May
by RedestRose
Summary: Complete! May lives the simple life, the life she was used to living. But she too, also learns of her relation to her parents, and her world crumbles. 2nd in the Four Months series
1. PROLOGUE

I hurried home from summer school, and dropped my books down on my bed, eager to get my homework done. Mommy greeted me with a kiss, and Daddy with a warm hug.  
  
"How was school?" Mother asked, wiping her hands on a dishtowel sitting on the counter. I shrugged.  
  
"It was OK," I muttered.  
  
"Did you talk to anyone?" I shook my head.  
  
"May Isaacson," Mommy hissed, walking over to me and seizing my shoulders. "You've got to quit being so shy. You need to meet new people, make some friends."  
  
"Nobody understands me," I cried softly.  
  
"Why don't they understand you?"  
  
"It's because I'm not into the popular things that they are in. I just sit around and read and study. Maybe I should change."  
  
"Oh no you don't!" Mommy exclaimed. "There isn't a thing wrong with you." I sighed and nodded reluctantly. She smiled.  
  
"Good, now go and do your homework," she advised and went back into the kitchen and picked up where she had left off in the recipe that she was making for dinner tonight. I shuffled up to room, and shut the door, walking over and putting on my CD player and putting on the Sleeping Beauty soundtrack and pulling out my algebra work. I cuddled up on my bed, and started to work, getting lost in the music and the homework. But the fact that I might have needed to change still lingered in my mind.  
  
Maybe I'll be more popular if I start shopping at the mall, or get my hair and makeup done or something, I suggested to myself. But Mommy wouldn't like that. She thought that I was just fine without a different hairstyle and makeup.  
  
"You're golden hair accents your blue eyes. I think that would attract any boy," She told me. I shrugged. It was true. I considered myself pretty, but not as gorgeous as some of the other girls at my school. They had boys dripping off of them, just wanting to go out on one single date. It almost sickened me that those things happened at our school.  
  
I had never had a boy like me before. Once, in fifth grade, but that wasn't anything to keep track of. His name was Brian Charles, and he wasn't one of the most popular in our class. He had thick, black framed glasses, and had a face full of pimples. He didn't have the guts to come up and talk to me, and that which I was thankful. All of the girls in class had made fun of me because he had liked me.   
  
"Doesn't May Charles sound good?" They sneered, twisting their lips in a twisted smile. I usually ran off crying, or just ignored them. But, I thought with a sigh, It wasn't exactly easy to ignore the popular people in school.  
  
I thought of how I would look with only a little bit of makeup on. I couldn't picture it as I wanted to though. A picture of a clown with stage makeup caked on flashed in my mind, and I shuddered.  
  
Just forget about it May. You're too insecure, I thought. 


	2. Chapter One

Chapter 1  
  
The next morning, I woke up extra early, and snuck into my parents' bathroom and took some of Mommy's makeup. She had enough of it to share, I decided, and snuck back into my bathroom and experimented with some of it.  
  
I tried some cool colors, like blue or purple, but that came out too bold. I tried some brown, and that didn't work as well as I wanted it to. I finally decided on a powdery silver that I thought looked really great. I put the rest of her supplies away, and I dressed quickly, wanting to go downstairs before Mommy and Daddy woke up and could see that I was wearing makeup.   
  
Just as I was downstairs, Mother yawned from behind me. I froze and let her pass me.  
  
"Good Morning May," she said, outstretching her arms and yawning again. I smiled weakly.  
  
"Good Morning Mommy. I'm going to have to skip breakfast this morning. I have to go early and talk with my teacher about the homework I had last night," I lied quickly, keeping my eyes away from her.   
  
"What? Oh, sure, that's fine," she muttered, and started a cup of coffee for herself and Daddy. I grabbed my backpack, slung it over my shoulders, and kissed Mommy's cheek quickly.   
  
"Good-bye," I said quickly, and bolted out of the door. Once I was away from the house, I sighed with relief. Thank God she didn't catch me, I thought. The door opened, and I froze in my spot.  
  
"You forgot your book!" Mother called. I closed my eyes, sighed, and ran to go get it from her. She seized my chin and tilted my head upwards. I chewed on my lower lip.   
  
"May," she chastised lowly, narrowing her eyes.  
  
"Please Mommy. I didn't put on too much. Honest, and don't you think that it looks OK?" I sputtered, stepping back.  
  
"Fine," she said with a sigh. "But only for today, and we'll see how that goes. Now go, before you're late," she said, tossing her hand in the direction of the school and shuffled back into the house, her slippers whispering across the ground. I grinned happily, and practically ran to school, excited to see how this would go.  
  
Once I had gotten there, I could just hear the whispers about me. I ignored them as best I could, but tears pooled under my eyelids. I blinked them away, and lowered my head, clutching my books to my chest.  
  
Someone had bumped into me, and I fell to the ground with a loud thump, my books and papers spilling everywhere. I moaned, and reached over to clean them up, when my head collided with someone else's. I placed my hand on my head and sighed, then looked at the person.  
  
"Sorry," he muttered, and helped me scoop up my papers. I shook my head.   
  
"You don't have anything to be sorry about, I should have been paying attention," I told him, and our eyes met. He was attractive, with jet black hair and warm brown eyes. I smiled and placed my book in the crook of my arm. I could still hear some laughter behind me, but I ignored it.  
  
"What's your name?" he asked softly.  
  
"I'm May Isaacson."  
  
"I'm Joey Lawson," he said, extending his hand. Mine came out shakily, and gripped his in a hand shake. He smiled.  
  
"Where's your class?"  
  
"Oh, top of 200. I have Mr. Wells," I said, nodding in that general direction.  
  
"Oh, well let me walk you. I've got a while," he said, looking at his watch. I smiled, nodded, and headed off, Joey by my side.  
  
"I haven't seen you around. What year are you?"  
  
"I'm going to be a Junior this coming year," I informed him.  
  
"Oh, I am too. Maybe we have the same classes together."  
  
"Maybe," I said softly, shivering. I had never had a boy take so much interest in me. It made me wonder.  
  
We walked quietly, staring at the path in front of us. I saw people look in our direction and giggle, which made me feel worse. I guess this wasn't going to be one of my greatest days, I thought.  
  
"You're quiet," Joey noticed.  
  
"I'm not exactly talkative," I muttered. He laughed quickly.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Some of the girls here don't shut up. It's nice to have some peace and quiet once and a while." That made me smile.  
  
"Shy too. Most girls are too friendly." I laughed. We climbed the stairs together, and I stood in front of my classroom. Joey sighed.  
  
"Well, I guess this is it," he muttered. I nodded.  
  
"Thanks, and sorry about the accident this morning," I told him. He shrugged, and headed down the hallway. I chewed on my lip, and entered the classroom. The circle of girls that had been in the corner of the classroom, had looked at me and turned their heads back into the group and whispered something. I ignored it as best as I could, and sat down in my seat. Lis Graham, one of the "gifted" ones, walked over to my desk and placed her palms on her desk. I looked up. If looks could kill, I would be dead, I thought. She smirked.  
  
"We saw you walking with Joey Lawson this morning," she said sharply.  
  
"I know," I said softly, looking down.  
  
"There isn't anything going on between you, is there?"  
  
"I just met him this morning!" I cried. Her smiled widened.  
  
"Just checking," she sang, and sauntered off, catching the eye of a boy nearby. I sighed, and pulled out my things as Mr. Wells walked inside.  
  
During class, my thoughts weren't concentrated on my work, for once. My thoughts were on Joey, and . . . well I didn't exactly really know what. But he was on my mind all day long, even when I drove home from school.  
  
"May!" Mommy cried happily. "How did it go?" she was in the living room, shouting over the vacuum cleaner. I walked inside and smiled.  
  
"How was it?" she repeated, turning off the vacuum and walking over to me. I smiled.   
  
"A boy noticed me today," I said excitedly, rocking back and forth on my heels. Her eyes widened.  
  
"A boy? Any boy in particular?"  
  
"Joey Lawson. He's really nice," I said. I sounded like a six year old who had her first crush, but I didn't care. Her smiled slightly faded.  
  
"May," she spoke softly. "I don't want you to get too involved with boys at your age. Some girls nowadays, are. . ." I knew what she was going to say. Mother didn't like to talk about it. About sex. She said that she had only done it twice in her life, but that was hard to doubt.  
  
My mother was a beautiful person. She had short, blonde hair with hazel eyes. She was long and skinny, tall enough to be a model. She looked like one too, with her shapely figure.  
  
"I know Mommy," I interjected quickly, chewing on my lip. She nodded.  
  
"Yes, well, as I said. Don't get too involved," she muttered, and turned back to the vacuum cleaner and flipped the switch off. I shrugged and walked into Daddy's office, where he was hunched over some very important documents for his law firm. He looked up and smiled.  
  
"Hello May," he said. I walked over to him and kissed his cheek. "How was school?"  
  
"It was great," I breathed, smiling. Daddy smiled meekly, and looked at the makeup. I'm sure that was the first thing that he noticed, I thought.  
  
"She let you wear makeup?" Daddy blurted. My smile faded, and my shoulders hunched.  
  
"Yes," I sighed.  
  
"I was just noticing," he sang, picking up his papers and making sure that they were in order, and slid open his desk drawer and placed them down neatly. "I overheard you talking to your Mother. You met a boy?"  
  
"Yes. His name is Joey Lawson, and he's really nice," I told him, the smile coming back onto my lips.  
  
"Well," he said, rubbing his palms together. "That's very nice. Congratulations. Now go upstairs and do your homework," he commanded.  
  
"I finished it," I said quickly. His smile widened.  
  
"Good, go call someone on the phone, or go shopping or something," he muttered. I lowered my head, and walked out of the office.  
  
"I don't have any one to call," I whispered.  
  
Later on that night, at dinner. I noticed that Mommy was acting quite strange. She looked around the table, as if there was something that was going to pop out of the pantry and scare her.  
  
"Is there something wrong Mommy?" I asked.  
  
"No, nothing is wrong," she said quickly, nervously. "Don't chew with your mouth open."  
  
"OK, but you seem a little bit jumpy, that's all," I mumbled, looking down at my plate. She suddenly burst out into tears and fled from the table, burying her face into her hands. I looked at Daddy.  
  
"What's wrong?" I cried, my face twisted in a grimace. He sighed.  
  
"I really have no idea what's wrong. I'll be right back. Finish your dinner." He rose from the table, and hurried upstairs. I sighed.  
  
I finished dinner alone that night. Daddy and Mommy were upstairs talking through the whole night. They didn't even come in to say goodnight to me. I pressed my ear to the wall, and tried to listen to what they were saying.   
  
"What is wrong Amanda!" Daddy bellowed. "You suddenly just burst out into tears at the table."  
  
"Oh Jim! It's just, it's just ... she's growing up!" Mommy wailed.  
  
"I know darling, soon, she'll-"  
  
"She'll know of it all! Then what!" she screeched. I pulled away. Know what? I didn't want to hear.  
  
"Shh, she's right next door," Daddy quieted Mommy. I crawled into bed and pulled the covers up over my head. Maybe, I was just hallucinating. I shook my head and turned out my light and went to sleep.  
  
In the morning, Mommy was more hostile than ever. She didn't even let me wear the clothes that I wore regularly.  
  
"You're not wearing that," she snapped. My eyes widened. I was wearing a pair of jeans and a fitted dark blue tank top.  
  
"Why not?" I asked, slapping my hands on my thighs.  
  
"Get it off. Don't object." I sighed and changed into a loose T shirt that I borrowed from my Father, and walked back downstairs. Mommy took one look at me, then ran upstairs, crying. I sighed, and headed out the door, getting into my car and driving up to the school. Just as I was getting out of my car, someone tapped my shoulder, and I turned around.  
  
"Hi," Joey said, smiling. Butterfly's fluttered in my stomach.  
  
"Hi," I said softly, and smiled. But he looked into my eyes and noticed that something was wrong.  
  
"What's wrong?" he asked curiously as we walked onto campus together. I sighed, and proceeded to tell him what had happened last night and this morning. He chewed on his lip thoughtfully.  
  
"I'm sorry, I just don't know what to say," he said. Suddenly, Cally Foster ran up to us and threaded her arm with Joey's.  
  
"Oh Joey, come with me. I have to tell you something so totally cool!" she cried, and pulled him away from me, looking back and smirking. My heart dropped. Why does this always happen to me? I propped myself up on my elbow and stared down at the desk. Someone tapped me on my shoulder, and I turned around.  
  
Emilia Lockhardt was standing behind me, brushing a lock of auburn hair behind her ear.  
  
"What's wrong?" she asked. I sighed again.  
  
"It's nothing. Just having one of those days," I muttered, sitting up. She crouched by the side of the desk.  
  
"It's Joey isn't it?"  
  
"No, it's not Joey," I said quickly, shifting my eyes away from her big brown ones.  
  
"It is May, don't lie," I told her.  
  
"So what if it's Joey?" I asked her snappishly. A wide smile crept upon her face.  
  
"Because he's the only boy that's come across you since Brian Charles," she retorted. I shrugged.  
  
"Just get over him, he's already got a love interest. Remember? Ashley Bernstein?" I sighed again, and the bell rang. If only I could lure away Ashley from Joey, I thought, I would have a chance, for once in my life. Emilia smiled.  
  
"Just forget about him." She sat down in her seat just as the bell rang. Joey looked my way, and sat down quickly.  
  
During the rest of the day, I thought my heart was at the bottom of my stomach. I walked around and saw Joey nearly everywhere, of course with his darling little Ashley. I wanted to burst out into tears every time that I had seen them holding hands, or kissing. I told myself not to get so upset about it, but it just wretched at my heart. The drive home was relaxing, because I had time to think clearly. But as soon as I got home, my problems got worse.  
  
"Where have you been?" Mommy shrilled as soon as I walked into the door. I jumped and dropped my math book.  
  
"I came directly home from school Mommy. What's wrong?" I asked as I placed my backpack on the counter and walked over to her.  
  
"It's 3:05! You were supposed to be here five minutes ago!" My eyebrow raised at my mother's outburst. What was going on?  
  
"Mommy, it's OK, I'm a little late because of traffic," I explained to her. She sighed nervously and began to shake.  
  
"Go say hello to your father," she commanded, bracing herself against the counter and closing her eyes. I raced to Daddy's office, leaning against the door frame. He looked up sharply.   
  
"Mommy's acting really strange," I breathed, and daddy leaped up from behind his desk and ran into the kitchen. Mommy had fainted!  
  
"Mommy!" I screamed, flying over to her. Daddy scooped her up and waved his hand in front of her face, giving her some air. He lightly slapped her face, and she came around.  
  
"How was she acting?" Daddy demanded, helping her stand.  
  
"She started to yell because I was a few minutes late, and then she got shaky," I told him. He sighed.  
  
"Amanda?" Daddy asked.  
  
"What's going on?" She shivered.  
  
"You fainted. What's wrong?"  
  
"I don't know, I started to worry about May because I thought-Oh, I'm sorry Amanda," she sobbed.  
  
"What did you think, Mommy?" I inquired. She shook her head.  
  
"It was nothing," she said quickly, although I didn't believe her. I looked up at Daddy.  
  
"Just go on and do your homework, I'll take care of your mother," he said softly, and turned to Mommy just as I was walking away and upstairs.  
  
I couldn't concentrate on my homework, my mind was on Joey. No matter what I did, Joey's handsome face appeared before me. I threw my things on the ground angrily and went to stare out my window. The sun was beginning to set, and shadows began to form. A black Mercedes pulled up to the house, and I watched as a tall, slender woman step out of the car. As soon as I recognized her, I gasped. It was Ashley! She sauntered up to the door and rang the bell, lifting her sunglasses from her face and placing them on her head. I turned away from the window and chewed on my nails.  
  
What did she want? How did she find my house? Is it about Joey? Questions raced through my mind as footsteps pounded in my ear as Daddy knocked on the door.  
  
"Someone is here to see you," he said and marched back downstairs. I sighed,  
  
and walked downstairs, where Ashley was waiting in the foyer. She had her hands folded across her chest, a purse slung over her shoulder.  
  
I stared at her for a minute. How could I lure Joey away from her? She was gorgeous! She had black hair, with large sections of bleached hair, which I thought was distasteful. Her eyes were dark brown, and she had an oversized nose, and a perfect tan. She had perfectly aligned teeth, from years of braces, and a wonderful smile. She always had the brand new fashions. Her father was a sports anchor, and her mother was a news anchor for the local TV station. She spun around.  
  
"May," she said, smiling. She had the perfect voice, I thought. "I was wondering if I could talk with you for a few minutes."  
  
"Oh, sure," I said, walking out onto the porch and sitting down onto the white wicker chair. She stood up, because she was wearing a khaki mini shirt, with a pale pink tank top.  
  
"I'll stand," she said, tossing her hand into the air. Her freshly French manicured nails shimmered.  
  
"What did you want to talk about?" I asked, curling up into a ball in the chair. She turned toward me.  
  
"Yes, actually, I wanted to talk about Joey." My heart pounded faster and a sweat threatened to break out on my forehead. She continued.  
  
"I've noticed that you and Joey have been hanging around each other lately." I nodded obediently. "Of course you know that he's my boyfriend, and to be frank. . . " She left me in suspense. I leaned forward. "I don't want you hanging around him anymore. At all."  
  
"But. . . " I stuttered, but she held up her dainty hand in protest.  
  
"No, buts about it. Joey doesn't stop talking about you, and I'm his girlfriend!" she cried.  
  
"But. . ." I repeated.  
  
"That's enough!" I stood up.  
  
"This isn't fair! Joey is my friend!"  
"I don't care! I don't care at all!" she screeched. "If I see you  
hanging out with him, at all, you know what I can do," she sang and sauntered out to her car, giving me a glare. "Remember what I said." She slipped her sunglasses on and got into the car and drove off. I ran into  
the house, fighting the tears back until I had entered my room. I flung myself on to my bed and started to cry. Why would she do this? Is she that cruel? Someone knocked on my door and entered without getting permission.  
"May?" Mommy asked. I looked up.  
  
"Oh, hi Mommy," I said quickly, sniffling.  
  
"Oh honey, what's wrong?" She patted my back. I quickly explained to her what had happened between me and Ashley.  
  
"Don't listen to her," she snapped, her eyes darkening. "She's just stuck up." I sniffled and nodded. She kissed my forehead.  
  
"Get some rest," she stood up and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her.  
  
That night, I didn't sleep much. 


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter 2  
  
In the morning, I had to drag myself out of bed. I didn't want to face Ashley's wrath, or Joey's face.  
  
I dressed plainly, not caring about my image, in a pair of jeans and a blue muscle T shirt. I brushed my hair, and went off, getting to school as quickly as I could.  
  
I was just about home free when I had gotten to my locker, from Joey or Ashley, when someone tapped my shoulder, and I had the feeling that it was Joey.  
  
"Hi," he said. I slowly turned around.  
  
"Hi," I said quickly, hurrying away from him.  
  
"What's wrong?" I started to walk. "It's Ashley, isn't it?" I shook my head. "It's not Ashley," I shook my head, and he grabbed my arm and pulled me towards him.  
  
"Hey. Just ignore anything that she has to say. We can still be friends." I pulled away.  
  
"I can't talk right now," I said and hurried to class.  
  
After first period, I went to my locker to put my books away when a note had spilled out of my locker.  
  
Meet me by the parking lot, by the exit after school. Don't be late. You know what we'll do to you.  
  
I sighed and leaned up against the wall and crumpled the note into a ball and tossed it into the trash can just as the tardy bell rang. How am I going to do this? Suddenly, an idea popped into my head. I ran to the nurses office and told her that I was sick.  
  
"Are you sure? You don't want to call your mother?"  
  
"Yes!" I hissed. She wrote me a pass and I ran out of the school, driving to Emilia's house and waiting outside her door. Once she had gotten home and seen my car she ran up.  
  
"You don't even know how much trouble you are!" she cried. I got out of the car.  
  
"They are flaming pissed!"  
  
"Can I come over?" I asked.  
  
"Sure." We entered the house.  
  
"I was going to wait by the car and make sure that nothing would happen to you, but I couldn't find your car, and her little posse was waiting and then they were talking and they left. Ashley looked pretty pissed."  
  
"But I don't know how any of them found out!" I cried as we walked into her room.  
  
"She has her spies running around," she muttered  
  
"But he's the one who talked to me!" she shrugged.  
  
"Doesn't matter in her little world. I would quit summer school." I moaned and shook my head.  
  
"Just don't think about it now." The doorbell rang, and I nearly bit my lip off from nervousness. Emilia rolled her eyes and went downstairs.  
  
"Ashley!" she said loudly, probably loud enough for me to hear, I thought.  
  
"Where's May?"  
  
"She's not here."  
  
"Her car's here," Ashley snapped. I thought that I was going to die.  
  
"So? Doesn't mean she's her."  
  
"Let me in." I heard a thump and footsteps on the stairs.  
  
"May!" Emilia screamed and ran after me. Ashley stormed into the room.  
  
"Girls!" Ashley snapped her fingers and 3 of her best friends came charging up the stairs, grabbing g some rope and binding my wrists and ankles.  
  
"Emilia!" I screamed, and they slapped some duct tape around my mouth. They lifted me and carried me out of the house, and down the stairs, tossing me in the back seat of Jessie Bark's van. Ashley got behind the wheel and sped off, Emilia chasing after the van.  
  
"You didn't listen, did you?" Jessie sneered, hanging over the edge of the seat. I tired to crawl out of the binding.  
  
"You just had to go on and disobey us," Karly Sitman said.  
  
"Who's says that I have to listen to you?" I tried to say, but it came out with in a jumble of words. I moaned and closed my eyes. What were they going to do to me?  
  
"Make a left! No, a right! Dammit!" Karly screamed.  
  
"Shut up you bitch! I know where I'm going!" Ashley screamed right back at her. Tears streamed my cheeks.  
  
"Oh, May, you have no idea what we have in store for you," Jessie said, shaking her head. I shook my head and tried to squirm. Suddenly, the van came to a screeching halt and the backdoors of the van opened up and I was carried into an old warehouse.  
  
"In the chair, UN-tape her mouth," Ashley commanded, and I was sat down in a seat and the strip of duct tape ripped off my mouth. I screamed.  
  
"Listen up May," Ashley snapped.  
  
"What are you going to do to me?" I asked.  
  
"Shut up and listen!" she rubbed her hands together and Ashley, Karly, and Jessie started to walk a circle around me.  
  
"You just had to talk to him, didn't you?" Ashley asked, bringing her face close to mine.  
  
"No, he talked to me," I moaned, turning my face away from hers. She started to walk again.  
  
"We told you that if you had talked to him, that you would pay, right? You did get my little note, right?" I shook my head.  
  
"Then why didn't you listen to me!" she shrilled in my ear.  
  
"I didn't talk to Joey! Joey came up and talked to me!" I sputtered.  
  
"You exchanged words with him. That counts. Now you'll pay."  
  
"Please, don't do this to me!" I cried, tears pouring down my cheeks.  
  
"Karly, get the gas can and the matches. Me and May are going to have some fun." My eyes widened and she rubbed her palms together and Karly went to fulfill the order.  
  
"Why isn't Joey getting punished?"  
  
"Oh, believe me, he's going to get punished." Karly came back and looked at Ashley. She nodded, and drew a circle of gasoline around the chair. I started to cry.  
  
"I'm sorry!" I screamed.  
  
"Sorry isn't good enough!" she screamed in my ear and Karly took a match out of the matchbook and scratched it against the back of the book. It lit instantly. My tears went faster.  
  
"I don't want to do this," Karly sang, the match almost burning the tips of her fingers. Jessie nodded and ran out of the room. Ashley waited. Karly dropped the match and the ring of gasoline burst into flames. Ashley laughed wickedly and pulled Karly out of the room.  
  
My desperate screams for help were no use; nobody had heard me. I tried to get out of the chair, but I was bound up tightly. I screamed, but my voice turned into a hoarse whisper, and I started to cough, my lungs filling with black smoke.  
  
Thoughts ran through my mind as I sat there. How was everyone going to react? What was going to happen? I cried silently and coughed. God, please, help! Someone!  
  
A window shattered somewhere in the distance, and I listened keenly to hear someone climbing in.  
  
"Who's there?" A cough sounded over the roar of the flames. "Who's there!"  
  
"May?" someone sputtered, and instantly I knew it was Joey.  
  
"Joey!" I saw his face, the flames practically licking his face.  
  
"May! Hold on," he searched desperately for something to douse the fire.  
  
"There's nothing!" I cried. He sucked in his breath, and he stepped back a few paces.  
  
"Joey?" I thought he was going to leave, but he ran and jumped as far as he could over the flames. I shrieked and he landed on his feet safely.  
  
"Hold on May!" he shouted, coughed, and pulled out his pocket knife and started to saw the rope that bound that kept my wrists to the chair.  
  
"Hurry!" I screamed, and I felt one of the ropes let loose. He started to work on the other, and it let free. I bent over to help him undo the rope at my wrists, but the fire was closing in and the heat was unbearable.  
  
The ropes let loose, and Joey helped me stand up, my legs wobbly.  
  
"OK, What I'm going to do is I'm going to pick you up and toss you over the fire, OK? You have to trust me."  
  
"I'm scared!" I screamed. He shook his head and he placed his arms under my legs and lifted me up. I shook my head and wiped beads of sweat from my forehead.  
  
"I can't do it!"  
  
"You have to!" He counted off, and tossed me over and I went into the air, screaming and hoping that I didn't land awkward. I landed with a thump on my hip, and I started to scream, but Joey landed next to me, his arms crossed over his chest. He scrambled to his feet and helped me up.  
  
"I can't walk!" I shouted in his ear. My ankles were bleeding from the rope that had cut them and my wrists also. He tossed him around my neck and lifted me up again, carrying me out of the room and into the daylight. I coughed, and crumbled to the green earth. My clothes were coated with black ash and I couldn't stop coughing. I sprawled out on the grass on my back and took deep breaths. Joey collapsed beneath me.  
  
"Are, you OK?" He asked breathlessly. I nodded and took a deep breath and sat up.  
  
"Now what?" I asked.  
  
"First. a hospital," he announced and helped me to my feet. We staggered over to Joey's car and crawled in the back seat, collapsing like a marionette puppet.  
  
The doctors had treated us, and of course, had to call our parents. Mommy and Daddy flew right in, clustered together, as if holding on for dear life.   
  
"May!" Mommy nearly screamed as she ran over to my bedside and wrapped me into her arms, about to crush me. Her tears escaped abruptly and she sobbed uncontrollably. Daddy stood and waited for his turned.  
  
"I- I don't know what to say. What happened? Who did this? What's going on?" Mommy cried, sitting at the edge of the bedside. I sighed and closed my eyes painfully. I knew it was coming. Down in the deep depths of my heart, I knew there was going to be questions.  
  
"It's a long story-" I began but Mommy impatiently cut me off.  
  
"Oh, believe me missy, you're going to tell it all. Down to how the smoke smelled." I sighed again and began once more. I explained the whole story, fighting back tears as I explained it all. Mommy wrapped me in her embrace once more and stepped back.  
  
"Why didn't you just come home and explain to us what was going on? We could have talked to Ashley's parents. . ."  
  
"It wouldn't have mattered," I said softly as I wrapped my blanket around me tighter.  
  
"It would have!" Mommy screeched.  
  
"Amanda," Daddy placed his hand on Mommy's shoulder. She spun around gracefully on her heels and confronted him silently. He grunted and turned towards me.  
  
"Darling," he said softly. I anticipated something, in which I held myself tighter. Joey had walked into the room jus as Daddy was going to say something. I sighed gratefully.  
  
"How are you May?" Joey asked as he walked over to me. Daddy looked angry, and so did Mommy.  
  
"I'm fine Joey," I said softly, a flush coming to my cheeks as I tried to avoid my parent's eyes.  
  
"I wanted to check on you before my parents came and yelled at me for an hour."  
  
"Speaking of which," I whispered. "Me and my parents are talking. I'm sorry, but you're going to have to go." He chewed on his lip and backed away, nodding at my parents and shutting the door after giving me an apologetic glance.  
  
"You owe him your life," he said. I nodded agreeably.  
  
"I know Daddy."  
  
"But you owe us an explanation of many things. Like why you had even let them take you, why you had gone to Emilia's house, and. . ." His voice trailed off.  
  
"I just explained that to you." He sighed and slumped in a chair, pressing his palm to his forehead. Mommy looked at me nervously.  
  
"I'm going to check on what the doctor has to say," Mommy said quickly and bolted out of the room as she left me and Daddy sitting in an uncomfortable silence.  
  
"This hasn't happened before," said Daddy after moments of silence.  
  
"I know."  
  
"No, I'm talking about this awkward silence. It's never happened before." I chewed on my lip.  
  
"We've always been communicative," he added. I nodded.  
  
"But what is there to talk about?" I asked softly, lowering my eyes.  
  
"Well, I could think of a few," he said, taking my hand in to his large one. I sat up and wrapped the blanket around my waist. He looked up at me and smiled.  
  
"Me and your mother have been wanting to talk about this when you were much older, perhaps 18." That was almost two years away from now. What was so important that they had to wait such a long time?  
  
"But, it's best to tell you know. I can't leave you in suspense." But he had left me waiting the night that I had heard my parents talking. Was that what this was about?  
  
"What is it daddy?" I asked in a near whisper as I clutched the sheet for dear life. He sighed and shook his head. I was about to scream.  
  
"You were . . . " Mommy charged into the room, and instantly she had know what Daddy was talking about.  
  
"NO!" She screamed, but Daddy had blurted it to late.  
  
"Adopted."  
  
My eyes had darted over to Daddy and Mommy, who was crumbling to the ground at Daddy's feet.  
  
"How could you? How could you?" she sobbed as she clawed at Daddy's legs. He shoved her out of the way and stood up.  
  
I sat there frozen. I was afraid to move. Maybe if I don't, I'll wake up, I thought. My heart pounded, sweat beads perspired on my brow. A shiver crawled up my spine. Mothers sobs and Daddy's silence were blocked out by screams. Screams that were mine. They came clear and long, traveling down the hospital corridor. Daddy came over to wrap me in his embrace, but I shoved him away and continued to scream until Joey ran into the room and slapped his hand over my mouth.  
  
"May!" he shouted over my fading screams. "What the hell is going on?" I shook my head as tears surfaced and rolled down my cheeks, making marks showing that a thin layer of soot had covered my face.  
  
"No, no, no, no," I repeated, shaking my head over and over again. "No."  
  
"What?" Joey looked quizzically at my father and turned back to me.  
  
"No."  
  
"I'm sorry May. But I had to tell you," Daddy said. Mommy's head popped up, her cheeks streaked with black tears.  
  
"You didn't have to tell her!" Mommy screamed back at him. He ignored her.  
  
"You're lying," I finally said, looking up at Daddy. "You're lying." I laughed quickly. Mommy's eyes widened. Daddy wrapped his hands across his chest.  
  
"I'm not lying Amanda."  
  
"Yes you are. Why is it that we all look so alike? I have Mommy's hair and eyes, and your dimples and smile. It's not possible. You are my biological parents." He sighed.  
  
"I feared this would happen," he muttered. Mommy looked around.  
  
"What?" I cocked my head to the side.  
  
"May, you're not understanding," he took my hand again and squeezed it. "You're adopted."  
  
"But Daddy, I can't be. You have my birth certificates, shot records, you have everything. Even a tape of my birth."  
  
"That was fake," Daddy said, his temper rising. "Your Mother was once pregnant, but the baby had died, and we had passed it off as your birth." I remembered watching the tape many times, amazed.  
  
"Why would you do that?" My tears moved faster.  
  
"We love you very much honey and we wanted to protect you."  
  
"I don't believe you." I folded my hands across my breasts and sat there, pouting. Daddy sighed.  
  
"I hoped that it didn't have to resort to this. Get up Amanda," Daddy commanded. Mommy stood up and they headed to the door.  
  
"Resort to what?" I asked as they walked out. "Daddy!" I turned to Joey.  
  
"What's going on May?" He asked cautiously.  
  
"They're telling me that I'm adopted," I said, laughing through my tears. How strange, I thought.  
  
"Well, maybe you are."  
  
"But I'm not!" I screamed back at him. "I'm not! They can't prove it!" Joey looked frightened as Daddy and Mommy walked back into the room with a doctor.  
  
"Hello May," he had said. I ignored him and looked at Daddy and Mommy.  
  
"Dr. Cord wants to talk to you," Mommy whispered, and clung to Daddy. He threw his arm around her shoulders and kissed her cheek.  
  
"May, why don't we go into another room?" he asked. I nodded and gratefully threw the covers off of me and followed him down the hall into another examining room and I sat down on the bed. He shut the door and locked it. I didn't panic.  
  
"May." He rubbed his hands together. "Why don't you believe that you aren't adopted?"  
  
"It's because I'm not," I told him. Joey walked by, and he tried the doorknob, but it was locked. I nodded to him and he sighed and walked away. He scribbled something on his clipboard.  
  
"Are you in denial?"  
  
"No, I know I wasn't adopted." Again he scribbled something down on the clipboard. Silence. He walked over to the phone that was mounted on the wall, dialed a number, and requested the nurse to come with some kind of medicine that I could pronounce. He hung up and looked over my way.  
  
"In just a sec, you'll be just fine," he said and smiled as someone knocked on the door, and he went over to answer it. A short, red headed woman walked into the room, her hands behind her back. She swiftly handed whatever she had to the doctor and she gathered a bottle of alcohol and a cotton ball. She raised my sleeve and started to rub some alcohol on it.  
  
"What's going on?" I asked Dr. Cord. He smiled and walked towards me.  
  
"In just a few seconds, you'll be relaxed," he sang and held up a syringe to the light. He tested it and medicine squirted out. I froze in panic as I looked at how much was in there. 20cc's!  
  
"Relax May," he said softly and staggered towards me. I leaped up from the table and pounded on the door.  
  
"Joey! Mommy! Daddy!" I screamed, pounding on the glass. The doctor walked towards me.  
  
"Now, now May," he comforted, but I spun around and smacked the syringe out of his hand. It flew across the room and slammed on the wall. Dr. Cord looked into my eyes, his light brown ones burning inside of mine.  
  
"Luckily Miss Baxter brought another." She pulled it out and showcased it as she handed it to Dr. Cord. He placed his palms on the wall, preventing my escape, and slowly brought the needle to my arm. My arm slid over to grab something, and I found and button and pressed it just as he was going to press it into my arm. An alarm screamed in my ear, and a team of nurses came rushing in after they had unlocked the door. I had pushed Dr. Cord off of me and ran out of the room, looking around for someone, anyone!  
  
"May!" I turned around and saw Joey running towards me. I ran to him and sobbed, burying my face into his chest. His arms went around me slowly, and I felt a warm shiver run up my spine, but I didn't care at the moment.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"Oh Joey, it was horrible! They were going to give me some kind of drug!" I cried. "They locked me in."  
  
"Shh," he said and rubbed my back. Shivers still continued to go up my spine.  
  
"Just get me out of here," I wailed and he let go of me and went to find my parents. I sat in the lobby and waited.  
  
On the way home, nobody had spoken. Mommy had stared out the window the whole time, Daddy kept his attention focused on the road, and I looked at the both of them, wondering why. . . Why?  
  
We walked into the house together, still nobody speaking. The silence was deafening. Why couldn't anyone just speak! I felt like screaming.  
  
"Honey, don't go right up to bed just yet," Daddy called after me as I was walking up the stairs to my room. I spun around and walked into the den.  
  
"May, we're so sorry," Mommy said, sweeping me into her arms. I closed my eyes.  
  
"I don't want to talk about it," I whispered.  
  
"But we have to!" Daddy walked out of the room and returned with some papers. He shoved them in my direction.  
  
"You're a smart girl May, aren't you? Now you look at these papers and you tell me that you aren't adopted." I snatched them from him and read them quickly. There was a birth certificate and legal adoption papers. There was an envelope addressed to me, but I decided that I would read it later. "Do you believe us now?" I didn't answer.  
  
"We're sorry," Mommy whispered in my ear and released me. I shuffled up to my room and sat down on my bed, feeling just so tired. The letter sealed in an envelope was still in my hand, and I decided, what better time to read it? I tore it open, noticing that there wasn't an address on it.  
  
Darling May,  
  
I'm sure by now that you have figured out that you were adopted and you were not your parents child.I know this might be devestating, but this is the truth.  
  
I am writing this to you now just before Jim and Amanda get home, and my boyfriend, your father. Your Father was not a very caring man. Usually everynight he came home drunk, and even some women from the bar. More or less, he was abusive. He beat me often, especially when I was pregnant with you. He said that this would be the last child I would ever have, and threw me across the room, and I almost miscarried, but I held on dearly, because I couldn't let my darling May die.  
  
Our living conditions were never very well. We lived a tiny two bedroom apartment in the ghetto of the neighborhood. We never had money for food, we were on food stamps for the longest time. We didn't have the many things that we wanted, or need. Like a television, a microwave, working oven, such things like that. We depended on the Salvation Army, and the Goodwill alot. But the most important thing was, I needed to get you out of there.  
  
Jake wouldn't let me escape. I had to find my own way out. I finally escaped in the night, and I'm currently staying at a shelter.  
  
Now, more about your personal life. You were born on January 4th, 1987, in our little tiny apartment. You are the youngest out of four, July, June, and April, in order.  
  
Your new parents just walked in the door. I must end this quickly, because your parents are anxious for you. I love you with all of my heart and maybe we will meet again.  
  
Love,  
  
Mother.  
  
  
  
I didn't realize that I was crying until I had seen tear drops appearing on the pages. I quickly flicked them away, and the letter wafted from my hands to the floor. I told myself I wasn't going to cry, but. . . how could you not cry when you read a letter as emotional as that was? I folded my hands across my breasts and leaned against the wall, crying.  
  
Why was I feeling sorry for myself? That all I was doing? I imagined myself walking down the hallways with my head lowered, tears wanting to come to the surface, but I wouldn't let them. I wanted people to feel sorry for me. That's what I had really wanted.  
  
I screamed and smacked a pillow out of my way, sending it across the room and smacking a picture in a porcelain frame and crashing to the ground. I started to sob hysterically and I scampered over to the picture and picked it up, the frame cracked.  
  
It was a picture of me, my mother, and Daddy standing in front of an oak tree. I was probably about 7 at the time. A shiver ran up my spine and my fingers, my broken nails ran along the broken glass over the picture. It was almost as if I could feel the love that we all expressed that day.  
  
I put the picture on the floor, intending to repair it later, and pressed my hand over my mouth, sobbing. I could hear footstpes on the stairs, and someone knocked at the door.  
  
"Go away, I'm fine," I said hoarsely to the person on the otherside of the door, and I crawled up to my bed. I looked at the nightstand to my right. A lavender purple phone sat there, hardly un-used. Who could I call? I called Emilia often, but she hardly had much to say, and I didn't have Joey's phone number. But I reluctantly picked up the phone and dialed the operator.  
  
"Hello," an automatic voice said.  
  
"Can I find the number of a boy named Joey Lawson?"  
  
"Which area?" I sighed and started to think. I rattled off the zip code to her, and the phone started to ring. I jumped, and almost prayed that he wouldn't answer.  
  
"Hello?" A woman's voice asked. Surely his mother, I thought.  
  
"Joey please?" I choked and cleared my throat.  
  
"Hold on," she said softly, and it grew silent. Any minute now, I would be talking to Joey. . .  
  
"Hello?" he finally said. I swallowed. I couldn't speak!  
  
"Hello?" he repeated. I cried out.  
  
"Sorry," I coughed.  
  
"May?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Why didn't you say something?" he cried.  
  
"I'm sorry! I got choked up!"  
  
"How'd you get my number?" he questioned.  
  
"Oh, I got it from the operator. Sorry if I bothered you," I said and took the phone from my ear, but he screamed, "Wait!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"I wanted to talk to you May."  
  
"Joey?" I whimpered.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Can I talk to you? It's really important."  
  
"Yea, sure, what's it about?"  
  
"No, I need to get away from here. Can we meet at like the supermarket or something?"  
  
"Uhh, sure. When?"  
  
"Now, it's really important."  
  
"OK May." He hung up, and I reached for my jacket and grabbed my car keys. 


	4. Chapter Three

Chapter 3  
  
I arrived at Joey's house quickly. I wanted to talk to him so badly, it was tearing up my insides. He threw open his door, and invited me inside.  
  
"What's going on?"  
  
"Read," I snapped, tossing him the letter. He picked it up, unfolded it, and started to read. A strange look came over his face.   
  
"What?" I asked, flying over to him.   
  
"Your Mother wrote this?"   
  
"Yes!" I hissed. He handed it back to me.   
  
"I don't know what to say."  
  
"Tell me what to do. Tell me what I should do," I muttered, raking my fingers through my hair.   
  
"I don't know what to tell you May," he muttered. He came over to hug me, but I pushed him away.   
  
"What's wrong with you?" he asked.   
  
"Nothing, nothing, I just need some time alone," I nearly screamed.   
  
"May, you need to calm down. . ." he began, placing his hand on my shoulder.   
  
"Don't you tell me to calm down!" I raged.   
  
"May, go home," he said, he went to open his door, and I stormed out angrily, and sped home, nearly colliding with another car.  
  
I didn't waste a minute to climb into bed. I changed into my pajamas and crawled into bed, planning to shut the world out for a long time.   
  
I stayed in my bed for two weeks. School was going to start soon, and I had barely moved out of my bed. I hadn't eaten, I had lost a lot of weight, and I had stopped going to summer school. My mother cried over my bed when she thought I was sleeping. I heard her sobbing one night, sitting next to my bed. I didn't move, I had just listened to her cry.   
  
"May, why are you doing this to me?" she moaned, wiping her eyes. I ignored her and she left the room.   
  
Joey kept calling me non stop, but I ignored all of his calls. I didn't feel like talking to him, when he had rejected me when I needed him most.  
  
"May, there's someone here for you," Mother said as she knocked on my door.   
  
"Tell whoever it is to go away," I yelled at the door. The door suddenly opened and Joey stormed in.   
  
"Get the hell out of bed. You've been there for 3 weeks and done nothing. You quit summer school, you haven't eaten, and your under a hundred pounds. Get up." He ripped the covers off of me, and I screamed.   
  
"Get away from me!"   
  
"Get dressed! We're going out!" I shoved him out of my room and put on a pair of jeans and a T shirt. When it was safe, he came back inside and pulled me downstairs.   
  
"Where are you taking me?" I asked, getting into his car. He got in, slammed the door, and sped off to somewhere.   
  
"What have you been doing besides laying in bed?"  
  
"Nothing," I snapped, folding my hands across my chest. He rolled his eyes and went faster, the car jolting forward.   
  
"Are you trying to kill me?" He didn't answer. He turned on a dirt road and sped forward, then parked in front of a sign that said, "Lawson Ranch."  
  
I looked up at him. "You own a ranch?"  
  
"Yeah, we bought it a few years ago." He went around and opened my door. I stepped out and looked around. It was a shady area with many oak trees and fields of rich green grass. Beautiful brown, black and white horses were corralled in pens made from oak posts.   
  
"This place is beautiful," I muttered, walking around. He took my hand and led me inside one of the pens. He went into the barn, and grabbed to saddles.   
  
"Whoa, wait a minute," I said, leaning against one of the posts. "We're going riding?"  
  
"No, I thought I would carry these heavy saddles for my own health," he spat sarcastically, and I narrowed my eyes. He put a bridle on the two black horses and saddled them.   
  
"May, meet Noir," he said. I slowly eased over to the horse and patted it's head. It's eyes were a glossy black, like black marbles. He whined and moved his head, and I leaped back.   
  
"This is my first time with horses," I said uneasily, chewing on my lip.  
  
  
  
"They don't hurt you, she's kind." He grabbed my hand and pulled me over.   
  
"Put your foot here," he said, and grabbed my foot and putting it in the foot holder. I swung my other leg around, and sat down. He placed my hand on the saddle and I gripped it for all of my life.   
  
"Grab the reins," he said, and handed them to me. I held those tightly.   
  
"When you want to go right, nudge her in that directions. Vice versa with the left. If we go down hills, lean back, and going up hills, lean forward. Got it?" I nodded and he ran inside and grabbed two water bottles.   
  
"Put this in your bag," he said and I did so. He climbed onto his horse and trotted forward.   
  
"I've got this neat little trail, follow me. Oh," he said, looking back. At that moment, I caught a true glimpse of Joey. A patch of sunlight illuminated his face, and he almost looked angelic. His brown eyes sparkled, and the smile on his face was tingling my spine.   
  
"When you want to go, kick the horses sides. Don't kick too hard. And you don't have to say 'Giddyap.' That's only in the movies." I nodded and smiled. He backed up.   
  
"OK, let's go Noir," I whispered, and kicked the horse. She grunted and trotted forward.   
  
"I did it!" I cried. Joey laughed and caught up next to me.  
  
  
  
"It's easy," he said. He went on the main road and past the house.   
  
"The house is huge," I muttered, looking over.   
  
"Yeah, we don't use it very much. It's kinda like a guest house," he said. We came out of the trees and started to walk through the grass.   
  
"This is such a pretty place."  
  
"We bought it a few years ago." We turned slightly left and started to go through the forest again.   
  
"What's your horses name?"  
  
"Onyx. Yours is Noir. In French it means 'black,'" he said.   
  
"It's a pretty name." I paused. "Joey?"  
  
"Yeah?" He brushed a branch out of his way.   
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"Sorry? For what?"  
  
"For being such a brat. I mean, I guess I've been feeling sorry for myself for a long time. I dunno," I mumbled, lowering my head.   
  
"Hey, don't get yourself down," he said, reaching over to lift my chin. We were side by side now. I looked up at him, and he smiled.   
  
"You're really pretty May," he said softly. I blushed and looked down at the ground.   
  
"Really, you are. Your hair is the pretties color of blonde, and your eyes, they're like watercolor blue. Watery, deep, it's like, whenever you look at me, I get swallowed in." I looked up.   
  
"May, I like you, a lot," he was the one that shifted his eyes away. I felt like I was in fifth grade again, when my first crush, Brian Charles, had admitted that he had liked me, and told me how pretty I was. But this was much better.   
  
"I like you too, Joey," I choked. "I guess I've liked you for a long time, even when we ran into each other the first day that we met each other." My cheeks were flaming red by now, but I didn't care. I liked Joey, a lot.   
  
"Hey, let's stop here," he said. It was in a huge field of emerald green grass, with a small creek running through the middle with a quarry of rocks surrounding it. The weather was perfect, the sun was shining, there was nothing that could go wrong. Joey hopped off and led his horse over to a tree and tied it up, along with my horse, and lifted me off, like I only weighed as much as a feather. We walked over to the field, Joey carrying a wicker basket.   
  
"Where did that come from?" I asked. I didn't see him bring it out earlier.   
  
"I have my magic tricks," he replied and pulled out a blanket and spread it out by the creek on level ground. I sprawled out and looked up at the sky. He had set up a picnic!  
  
"Is this a date?" I sang, sitting up and bracing myself on my elbows. He chuckled.   
  
"Maybe." He pulled out two sandwiches and handed one to me. Turkey with provolone and mayonnaise. I took a bite and groaned. It was the first piece of food I had eaten in practically 2 weeks! It felt good as it traveled down my throat and I ate ravenously.   
  
"Slow down there," Joey laughed, handing me a water bottle. I drank that in one gulp.   
  
"Food is good," I said. After that, I devoured a bag of chips, and a box of cookies.   
  
"Full?" Joey asked, and I nodded, burping. I giggled and went to wash my hands in the creek. The water was cool, and I splashed some on my face. I sat up and took out my hair, brushing it with my fingers. It was very long now. It was down to my mid back, and it covered my shoulders. I took off my jacket and lay it down and sprawled out on the grass, looking up at the sky, a few clouds drifted by, and I tried to make shapes out of them. Joey sat down next to me, and he grabbed my hand. A shiver went up my spine, but I didn't let him know it.   
  
"You have a very feminine hand," he noticed it, tracing the outline of my hand.   
  
"I use Rose oil lotion," I said. He leaned forward and kissed my fingers, and I snatched them away. He sat up.   
  
"I'm sorry, I'm just not used to it," I said.   
  
"I like you a lot May. You're beautiful, talented, smart. Every time I think of you, my heart goes out to you."  
  
"I've never been in a relationship before Joey," I said hesitantly.   
  
"I'll take it slow," he whispered, and I threw my arms around his neck, and we held each other.   
  
I could have burst with joy. I loved Joey, I truly did. From the first day that I had met him, the first time we had ever interacted, I had loved him. His eyes, his hair, his smile. I was drowning in love!  
  
After a while, which seemed like an eternity, we let got of each other, and we headed back to the horses. He untied them both, and helped me back up, since I didn't get the hang of it yet. We rode back to the ranch quietly, both lost in our silence.   
  
Once we had gotten back, he corralled the horses, and he took me inside of the house.   
  
"This is like the ski lodge on the mountains!" I cried as I walked inside. On the far back wall, a large moose head was mounted over a marble fireplace. A large bookshelf stood next to it, containing fine literature book, cook books, and novels. On the right wall, a large entertainment center stood there, with A DVD player, CD player, VCR, 16' TV, and a stereo. In the middle of the room in front of the TV, a large black leather couch was placed there, next to a bear skin rug. The stairs were on the back wall, and there was an entrance into the kitchen. Joey went into the kitchen, while I sat down on the couch.   
  
"This is all so expensive," I said. He came back with two grape sodas.   
  
"Not really." He thrust a soda at me, and I took it from him.   
  
"The rug is worth five thousand dollars!" I shrieked. He laughed.   
  
"I guess so." He opened his soda and started to chug it down. I sipped mine and put it on the table next to the couch.   
  
"Turn off that lamp," he commanded, and I did so, lying back on the couch. He touched my cheek, and I turned my face in his direction, and he crushed his lips on top of mine suddenly, I jerked back. He groaned.   
  
"I'm sorry Joey, I'm just . . . scared."  
  
"Of?"   
  
"I dunno, but I am. I guess from what I've seen. People get wrapped up in love so much, and then their hearts get broken, and it's all over. My hearts already been crushed, I don't want it to happen again."  
  
"May, you know that I would never do that to you. I love you. Yes, I love you. And there is nothing that could come between us." He grabbed my hand. "I promise I will go slow, and if I go too fast, please, stop me." He embraced me and lightly kissed my cheek. My heart was pitter-pattering against my chest. He kissed it again, and cupped my face and looked at me.   
  
"You're so beautiful." Slowly, he brought his lips to mine, and I accepted his kiss.   
  
"You're so soft." He murmured. My arms went around his neck, and I let him kiss my face and my neck, but when he started to get lower, I moved his lips back to mine. Slowly, I was learning. He was my first kiss, and I hoped he would be my last.   
  
"Joey," I mumbled.   
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"We should probably get going. It's getting late." He sighed and let go of my face, and smiled.   
  
"Let's get out of here." We ran to his car, and he drove me home quickly.   
  
"Thank you so much for this day Joey. I had the greatest time." I leaned over and kissed his cheek.  
  
"Call me later," he called after me as I ran into my house, slamming the door behind me. Mommy and Daddy were in the kitchen, and I ran through there, smiling broadly.   
  
"Hello May, did you have a good time?" Daddy asked.   
  
"I'm in love and I don't care who knows!"  
  
I couldn't stop thinking of Joey. He was burned on my brain. Everything I did, it somehow reminded it me of Joey. I didn't care that I was adopted anymore; All I could think about was Joey! I floated around the house, I went back to summer school, and I counted down the days until school started. Eight weeks. Eight weeks! I could hardly believe it, it was that close.   
  
My parents were quite annoyed with my obsession over Joey. "May, get your heads out of the clouds," my parents constantly reminded me. But I ignored them.  
  
I talked to him everyday. We were constantly on the phone with each other. We talked about the most controversial things, like music, and movies, and on a more milder subject, how our feelings were.   
  
I usually gushed to him. He was slightly hesitant, which made me worry. But he told me that nothing in the world could take me away from him. That made my heart race.   
  
Emilia was quite annoyed with the situation between us.   
  
"May, you've got to stop thinking about him!" she screamed in my ear. I looked at him sharply.   
  
"I- I don't understand you May. You've never been this gaga over a boy before. Ever. And you've had some wild crushes." I flashed back quickly to all of the grade school days that I had spent crushing on boys that were out of my reach. I frowned.  
  
  
  
"Did you have to make me think of that?" She smirked.   
  
"You, and your hormones, need to simmer down now." I sighed.   
  
"But Emilia, I love him!" I cried. She scoffed and rolled her eyes.   
  
The one day that I didn't talk about Joey, or even think about him, was when me and my parents had a serious talk.   
  
"May, can we talk to you?" Mommy asked softly, knocking on my door.   
  
"Sure Mommy." I said good-bye to Joey and went down into the living room.   
  
"You might want to sit," Daddy said as I entered the room. I looked at them both cautiously and sat down. A shiver went up my spine. Something was wrong.   
  
"May, we need to talk to you," Daddy said. I nodded.   
  
"I know, Mommy told me," I said slowly.   
  
"It's about Joey," she blurted. My heart leaped into my throat.  
  
"Joey?" I choked out, my throat dry and scratchy. They both nodded.   
  
"We're having somewhat of a-" he paused, tossing his hand in the air. "Problem."  
  
"Problem?" I sputtered.   
  
"May, we're not exactly thrilled with your, friendship, with Joey," Mommy blurted. I stared at her in disbelief.   
  
"Wait, what?" I said, shaking my head.   
  
"You, you heard me May," Mommy said hesitantly. I stood up.   
  
"But-But-But. . ." Daddy held up his hand.   
  
"You've been head over heels in love with this boy, and I'm not sure if you, or your Mother and I, are ready for this." I couldn't believe what I was hearing! I loved this boy! I would die for him! He saved my life! He told me he loved me! Alarms went off in my head. This couldn't be happening.   
  
"I- I don't think I'm getting this." They both looked at each other, their eyes wide.   
  
"Now, May, we know you're still fragile from what happened," Mommy replied, touching my shoulder. I shrugged it of.   
  
"All right," I said. "So, you don't, approve, of me and Joey?" I started shaking. Mommy's eyes widened.   
  
"Jim, she's having a mental breakdown!" she shrieked. My shaking was getting worse and my teeth began to chatter. Mommy ran to get a blanket for me, and Daddy scooped me up.   
  
"No Daddy, I'm fine," I protested, shaking my head. He grabbed his keys, and headed to the front door. Mommy came and covered me with a blanket, and we headed out the door.   
  
My heart was pounding faster than it ever had before, a sweat was breaking out on my brow. My breath was trapped in my throat; I couldn't breathe, and my vision was growing blurry. I had a terrible headache; my heart felt like the jaws of life were being clamped onto my heart.   
  
"Daddy," I moaned. My lips were dry, and my voice cracked. He didn't answer as he lay me in the back of the SUV and sped off to the hospital. Mommy burst out into tears as we drove.   
  
"We shouldn't have told her Jim. We should have just kept it to ourselves," she wailed.  
  
"Now is not the time Amanda," he snapped at her, accelerating the car. My eyelids drooped closed.   
  
"May, stay awake, we're almost there," Daddy called. I groaned again, and forced to keep my eyes open, but it was impossible. Even the dim lights from the passing street lights hurt my eyes. It seemed that my heart rate had gone faster, I was shivering, and sweating at the same time, and my brain thumped against my skull agonizingly.   
  
"Almost there. . ." The car came to a screeching halt, and Daddy leaped out of the car, scooped me up into his arms, and carried me into the ER. A nurse walked over to us.   
  
"What's wrong?" she asked quickly. I could see that she a short, plump woman.   
  
"Yes! Yes! Please help! My daughter! My daughter!" he cried. Mommy had turned into a pale mess. The nurse called for a wheelchair, and Daddy plopped me inside, my head drooping to the side. I could feel the soft wind on my cheeks as we whizzed by rooms and down the hallway to an examining room.   
  
"Hold on honey," Mommy said weakly, squeezing my hand. I groaned in response.   
  
"Where are the doctors?" Daddy roared. I groaned.   
  
"Just hold on," Mommy said. I started to cry.   
  
"Mommy," I choked, and she started screaming.   
  
"Amanda!" Daddy yelled, and pulled her out of the room and into the hallway. I could hear her faint screams.   
  
Doctors started hooking me up to machines, loud beeping ones, an IV, and a heart monitor.  
  
"You're going to be just fine, dear," the nurse said. They hooked me up to an oxygen machine, and she told me to inhale deeply. I started coughing, and slowly, it seemed like I was drifting away. The voices got louder, my body lost control,   
  
Hold on, hold on. . . 


	5. Chapter Four

Chapter 4  
  
I slowly drifted to consciousness. Soft beeping noises, and the occasional intercom call for one of the doctors. My eyelids slowly fluttered open, and I looked around. The bright lights affected my eyes, and I groaned.   
  
"May?" A soft voice asked. Shuffling footsteps.   
  
"The lights," I croaked. More footsteps and the lights dimmed. I opened my eyes wider.   
  
"Mommy?" She glided back over to the bed.   
  
"Oh, May, I was so worried, we thought we were going to lose you." Tears welled in her eyes.   
  
"What's wrong with me Mommy?" The look in her eyes made me feel as if something was terribly wrong.   
  
"I'll have the doctor explain it to you." She scurried out of the room, and I slowly sat up.   
  
"May," he said. It was Dr. Philip Cord, who had treated me the last time I was here. But the last time was a nightmare, he had tried to inject me with a sedative, but I had luckily gotten away.   
  
He stood there in the doorway, his features chiseled in the darkness.   
  
"Hello May. It's good to see that you are up." He walked into the room and stood in the doorway. "Mind if I turn on the lights?" Instead of waiting for my reply, he snapped them on, and I shrieked.   
  
"What's wrong with me?" I asked him, shielding my eyes. He sat at the foot of the bed and glanced at the charts. He nodded, smiled, and looked at me.   
  
"Well, May, the experience that you just went through, was called an emotional breakdown. You've been on a roller coaster of emotions, and that caused your physical health to decrease. Also, I noticed that you've lost a lot of weight since the last time you were here." I sighed.  
  
"What do you suggest, Doctor?" Mommy asked thoughtfully, taking her seat beside my bed.   
  
"I suggest that we should keep her here for a while, analyze her, see if she is stable enough, and what I advise is that she stays away from what is causing the emotional breakdown." She nodded.   
  
"For now, I'm just going to have her rest. We'll conduct a few test, but other than that, she should be fine." Mommy nodded again.   
  
"Where's Daddy?" I asked.   
  
"He had to go back to work honey. He said if anything happen that we were to call him." I sighed.   
  
"Mrs. Isaacson, if you don't mine, I need to conduct some tests." She nodded vigorously and left the room. He glanced at me and smiled.   
  
"I'll need you to sit up for a minute." I shifted uneasily in the bed and sat up. He removed the stethoscope and shot his hand up my hospital gown.   
  
"Hey!" I cried, jerking away. He laughed.   
  
"It's nothing out of the ordinary." He attempted again, and put the cold metal on my chest.   
  
"Breathe deeply," he commanded. I exhaled twice and he removed it and placed his palm on my back. "Breathe." I did so and he recorded it.   
  
"All righty," he said as he sighed. He took out a miniature flashlight and looked into my eyes. He looked down my throat and through my ear.   
  
"Is this really necessary?" I asked hesitantly.   
  
"Of course it is. I wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't." He retorted, and I sighed. "Now lay flat on your back." I scooted down and put my hands by my sides. His hands crawled up the sides of my nightgown again. I shot up.   
  
"Lie still," he growled, and I shot him an evil glare and lay down again. His hands poked my ribs, the sides of my breasts. With him doing this, I began to squirm.   
  
"The faster you stay still is when this will all be over with," he snapped, and I grunted. He removed his hands and I sat up again, adjusting the gown. He walked over to the counter and picked up a small vial.   
  
"I need you to urine in this cup for me please." He thrust it at me, and I looked at it skeptically.   
  
"What's this for?"  
  
"May, do you have to question me?" he asked. I sighed, rolled my eyes, and went into the bathroom and did what he asked. I handed it back to him.   
  
"Good. I'll be back in about an hour or so," he said and left the room, turning out the lights for me. I crawled back into bed and pulled the covers over my head. What was this for? I shrugged, and took a quick nap. When I had woken up, Daddy was sitting next to my bed, staring at the floor.   
  
"Daddy?" I said, rubbing my eyes. He looked up and threw his arms around me.   
  
"Oh, May, thank God you're OK," he said. I patted his back.   
  
"I'm fine."  
  
"I was so worried about you. I waited for the longest time, but I had to go back to work; I couldn't take the day off. But I told your Mother to call me if you had waken up." Dr. Cord walked into the room, with Mommy.   
  
"Jim, can we talk to you?" Daddy through an apologetic glance at me, then went into the hallway, shutting the door, but it hadn't closed all the way, so I could hear all that they were saying.   
  
"I have the results of the test if you would like to see them," the doctor said softly.   
  
"Of course," Mommy said eagerly.   
  
"Test?" Daddy questioned. I heard the ripping of an envelope, and Mommy's sigh of relief.   
  
"Not pregnant." Alarms went off in my head. What! I flew from the bed and stood near the door.   
  
"It even shows that your daughter hasn't even had intercourse."   
  
"Amanda Diane!" Daddy snarled. I stepped out of the room.   
  
"You gave me a pregnancy test?" I demanded to know from Mommy. She turned pale.   
  
"May, you can see that we are having a discussion," Dr. Cord said softly, placing his hand on my shoulder. I brushed it away forcefully.  
  
"Answer me!" I yelled. Her cheeks were flooded with tears.   
  
"Oh, May, I had to, I just had to!" she wailed, throwing herself at my feet. I kicked her away. I looked at Daddy.   
  
"Honestly May. I just learned of this too," he said, looking down at Mommy.   
  
"You were spending too much time with Joey! I was beginning to wonder! You came home with this, this angelic, beautiful look on your face, like you had just had the best few moments of your life, and I was afraid to ask if you had. . . "  
  
Sex?" I blurted. She cringed and looked up at me.   
  
"Now May, we don't want to upset you since you're in your current state. . . " Dr. Cord advised. I glared at him.   
  
"You don't tell me what to do," I snapped. I looked at Mommy again. "I can't believe you did this."  
  
"I had to!" she hissed. I scoffed and clenched my hands.   
  
"Maybe it's best that we leave," Daddy suggested. I wanted him to stay, not Mommy. I wanted her out.   
  
"Take Mommy. You can stay."  
  
"I have to get back to work," he said regretfully. I sighed and shuffled back into my room. "I'll talk to you later," he called. "Get up Amanda." I heard Mommy's sobs as she walked down the hallway. Dr. Cord slipped into my room and shut the door behind.   
  
"No, no, get out now," I said, pointing to the door.   
  
"Now let's talk about this for a moment," he said.   
  
"No! Get out now!" I yelled.   
  
"Quite a temper on you," he muttered.   
  
"Now, or I'll call security." I looked over at the phone mounted on the wall. He sighed.   
  
"Can't we just all get along?" He snickered, and left the room. I crawled back into my bed and picked up a magazine that one of the nurses had left in the room. It was a fashion magazine. I flipped through the pages dully and looked through the window.   
  
It was beginning to get dark, and I had remembered that I had to stay overnight. I groaned and tossed the magazine on the floor angrily. The hospital was slowly closing down. Nurses were going home, some doctors too. Only the on call doctors remained. Things got quieter. The announcements over the intercom grew less and less, and the sirens had become quieter.   
  
I settled into my bed, tucking myself in and fluffing my pillows. I started to twist the sheets around my finger; I couldn't sleep. I had slept most of the day. I watched as people walked by, patients taking their nightly walks. Suddenly, a thought popped into my head. I had wondered if I was born here. My eyes widened. I could always check . . .   
  
I threw the covers off of me, and ran to the door, making sure that Dr. Cord wasn't there. He had advised me earlier in the day to stay in bed and get some rest, but that thought didn't matter anymore.   
  
I slowly opened the door, looking down both corridors to see if anyone was coming. Both clear. I stepped out quickly, and made my way down the hall, watching for anyone who might stop me. Where to look? There was a reception desk, but everyone swarmed around that. Still walking down the hall, I looked for any one of the doctor's offices. Luckily, I found Dr. Cord's office. He was gone, probably flirting with one of his patients or the nurses. I slipped into the office, and locked the door, pulling down the shade so that no one could see me.   
  
His desk was in the middle of the room, bookshelves lining the room with medical books, small statues, and such other things. I sat down at his desk and pulled out the keyboard, booting up his computer. I searched through all of his files, went through hundreds of birth certificates, until I found a search engine on the hospital system. I typed my name in, and waited for the files to show up.   
  
Three files show up. I clicked on the most recent one. It was dated today because of my breakdown. The second one was when I had checked in because of the event dealing with Ashley Bernstein.   
  
And the last file. My hand shook as I clicked it open. Before my eyes could look at the screen, someone was standing outside the door, talking.   
  
"Come on Andrea, why not?" It was Dr. Cord. A woman, who I'm guessing is to be Andrea, scoffed.   
  
"Please Philip, I have to work late tonight. I have to make sure that Isaacson girl hasn't left her room. I got strict orders from her mother saying that she wasn't allowed to leave her room." I crouched underneath the desk. Someone tried the doorknob, but they knew it was locked, and Dr. Cord pulled out his keys and started to unlock the door.   
  
"So? She's knows that she's not allowed to go anywhere," he pleaded. "Come on, just one night. Some dinner, wine, maybe a little dancing." He threw open the door. My heart thumped, and I frantically looked around the room for another hiding spot. There was a cedar chest, but I wasn't quick enough to hide. I curled up into a ball as small as I could and closed my eyes.   
  
"Sure, and get me drunk so we can do the horizontal mambo, sure Phil," she muttered. She plopped down in one of the black leather chairs. I could see through the tiny crack under the desk. He plodded over to his desk, and I kept my eyes shut tight. He pulled back his chair and sat down, his legs barely grazing my body. I tired to scoot back further.   
  
"Please Andrea, you know I'm not that kind of man." He placed his elbows up on his desk, and there was an awkward pause.   
  
"What?" Andrea asked curiously, and stood up.   
  
"Someone's been surfing on my computer." My heart raced.   
  
"Why would someone do that?" Andrea questioned. My heart raced.  
  
"May Isaacson." He muttered, and I began to hyperventilate.  
  
"She was looking on your computer?"   
  
"No," he said. I exhaled with relief. "They typed in her name. Might have been that psycho mother of hers. You know, she's really adopted."  
  
"Maybe she was looking for her birth records or something, trying to send her away."  
  
"No, why would she send a pretty girl away?" He muttered. A few clicks on the mouse, and he shut down the computer. No. . . "I'd like to get a piece of her," he added. She exhaled.   
  
"This is exactly why I'm not going out with you," she hissed, and walked to the door, but he leaped up and chased after her.   
  
"Come on Andrea. Let me show you a good time." A long silence, and then I heard their lips smacking. She sighed, and then giggled.   
  
"OK, fine. Let me get my stuff, and check up on my patient, and then we can go," she said softly.   
  
"Great." He kissed her again, and she gasped.   
  
"Philip Cord," she scolded, and he chuckled and hurried out of his office, turning out the lights and locking the door, Andrea following him. Once they had been gone for a minute or two, I crawled out of my hiding spot, looking at the computer. My heart ached; I wanted to get back on to see the last file under my name, but Andrea was going to check up on me soon. I sighed, told myself that I would look another time, and bolted out of the office, and back into my room.  
  
I scurried into my bed as fast as I could, but the door was suddenly thrown open, and I dove under the covers.   
  
"Are you awake?" she asked, her heels clicking on the laminated tile. I stayed still.   
  
"Is she asleep?" Dr. Cord asked.   
  
"Uhh. . ." she threw back the covers, and I shut my eyes, pretending to look asleep. "She sleeps in the most awkward position, I swear." One of my legs was hanging off of the bed, my hair spilled around me, my arm thrown across my body. I slowly opened my eyes just to see a little bit. He walked over to my bed, and smiled.   
  
"It's cute," he said softly. He brushed a piece of hair off of my face. "Poor kid, she's been through a lot. When we first got her in here, she was having seizures. She was already unconscious when they got her here."  
  
"Dear lord," Andrea muttered.   
  
"We thought that she would go into a comatose state, but a few ours later she pulled out of it. Strong kid." He touched my cheek, and I wanted to smack his hand away, but I turned over and mumbled some words that didn't make any sense.   
  
"Let's get out of here," Dr. Cord said, and they walked out of my room, slamming the door behind them. I sat up. They were standing outside of my room, kissing. I couldn't get a good glance at Andrea, but I reminded myself that I would see her tomorrow when she comes to check on me. I sighed. My heart was racing fast, and I didn't want to go into any seizures. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths, and rearranged my position, and fell asleep.   
  
In the morning I was woken up by sirens going off from an ambulance. What a lovely way to wake up, I thought. I sighed and sat up, outstretching my arms over my head. The sunshine was bright, it was spilling into the room, just then, the door open, and my nurse, Andrea entered.   
  
"Oh, you're awake," she said. I took a good look at her. She had light brown hair that was down to her mid back, and it was curled at the ends. She looked about 23. Her eyes were light brown, and the makeup that she wore was very light but noticeable. She was wearing a white nurses outfit, which was a bit small on her, but hugged her curves. She had a hefty bosom, which led her to unbutton the first two buttons of her uniform. It was also a little bit short on her. She had tan, curvy legs, and black dress shoes on with her toenails painted red.  
  
"How are you feeling?" she asked as she freshened the flowers up a little bit and closed the bathroom door.   
  
"OK," I said softly. When she had come over to fluff my pillows, I noticed that she had attempted to cover up a hickey that Dr. Cord had given her with makeup. He had a few on her chest area also. When she had looked up, I saw that she had a glint in her eyes, like she was happy or something.   
  
"Is there anything you need?" she asked politely. I shook my head. "Breakfast will be coming soon." She went out into the hallway and brought in a cart full of orange juice. I took a cup and sipped it.   
  
"Wonderful." She smiled and started to walk out of the room. I noticed that she emphatically shook her hips when she walked. To me, she seemed like a nice girl. I sipped my juice and looked at my feet. The door flew open, and Dr. Cord stepped in. His grin was pasted on his lips; it looked like he had the best night of his life.   
  
"Good morning May," he said. He glanced at my charts.  
  
"You're looking extremely chipper this morning," I muttered. He flashed a toothy smile at me.   
  
"I'm just . . . happy," he said. I bit my lip to prevent myself from saying anything.   
  
"Well, well, it seems that your doing just fine," he bragged. "My patients always turn out for the better. Has Andrea come to check on you." I nodded. His smile broadened.   
  
"Good. Well, I'll be here if you need me." He spun around and marched out of the room just as quickly as he had entered. I giggled and looked out the window for a moment. It was a beautiful day, much to beautiful for me to be stuck in this room all day long. I lay in my bed, knowing that there wouldn't be anything on except for soap operas anyway. I wanted to go and snoop through Dr. Cord's files again, but the chance was too risky in the morning.   
  
I rested through most of the morning, Andrea allowing me to go down to the cafeteria for lunch. But I didn't have much of an appetite this morning. All I wanted to do was go home and talk to Joey. When I had finished what I could eat of my lunch, I walked around, looking for a phone. I kept my eyes open for Andrea, wondering if I was allowed to use the phone. Finally, in the cafeteria, I found a phone mounted on the wall. I eagerly picked up the phone and started dialing his number, praying to God that he was there.   
  
"Hello?" He had asked, and the phone suddenly went dead. There was Andrea.   
  
"What did you do that for?" I cried. She snatched the phone from me and slammed it down.   
  
"Didn't I tell you that you could only eat lunch and to head straight back to your room?" She said harshly.  
  
"No, you didn't," I retorted. She slammed the phone down.   
  
"I was given strict orders that you were not allowed to even leave your room. I was being nice, but I guess you can't follow the rules. Back to your room. Your father is here anyway." She pointed to the hallway, and I reluctantly marched back to the room. Andrea was walking next to me, and on the way, we walked past Dr. Cord. Andrea had a sharp look on her face from scolding me.   
  
"Don't be too harsh on her, pet," he whispered and grabbed her bottom. She scolded him softly, and continued to walk.  
  
Daddy was waiting for me in my room. He brought me clothes to change into.   
  
"May," he said and stood up. I smiled. "How are you feeling. Here, I brought you clothes." He handed them to me, and smiled. "Your release forms are all signed. Go ahead and change while I go talk to your doctor." I nodded and went into the bathroom to change. He had even brought me my makeup and a brush. I smiled and got ready. When I came out, Dr. Cord and Daddy were talking. His eyes lowered to my feet, then came back up to my face.   
  
"You look much better," he said, licking his lips. I shuddered. "You're all ready to go. I hope you get better. Get loads of rest, and I'll be seeing you in 2 weeks to make sure you are better." He walked over to me and hugged me, just a little too tight. I half-smiled. I walked over to Daddy and stayed close to him.   
  
"Let's go," he said softly and headed to the door. I nodded and headed out the door.   
  
We walked silently to the car. Daddy's head down, his feet shuffling.   
  
"Is there something wrong, Daddy?" I asked. He looked up.   
  
"Well, I'm kind of disappointed in your Mother," He said. I chewed on my lower lip. "I can't believe she pulled a pregnancy test out of the hat." I placed my hand on his shoulder.   
  
"Well, I guess, I can kinda understand," I said softly. He smiled warmly.   
  
"Let's get you home." I got into the car, and we headed for home.   
  
Mommy was anxiously waiting for me in the living room. She jumped up and ran over to me. I let her hug me, then I pulled away.  
  
"Let's just go home," I muttered, and crawled into the car. Mommy glanced at Daddy, and he shrugged and got into the drivers seat. Mommy got into the passengers seat, and soon, we were on our way home.  
  
Once we had arrived, I asked if I had received any phone calls while I was away.   
  
"Nope," Mommy said quickly and went into the kitchen. I shrugged and sighed.   
  
"Honey, why don't you go up to your room and sleep? I'm sure those hospital beds are uncomfortable," Daddy suggested, and I nodded and kissed him goodnight. He smiled. Mommy looked expectant.   
  
"Goodnight Mommy," I said to her and headed up the stairs. She sighed and her head lowered. Daddy went to pat her shoulder.   
  
For the first time in a few days, I settled into my bed, curling up into a ball and putting the covers over my head and inhaling the scent of my shampoo that had lingered on my pillow. Welcome home, I thought. No quicker had I gotten into my bed, I had gone to sleep.   
  
In the middle of the night, I woke up to hear my window being opened. I instantly thought it was Mommy, thinking that it was too stuffy in the room, so I didn't mind. I heard something fall to the floor, but I ignored that also. My covers were pulled back, and then a pause. Then I was beginning to wonder. Suddenly, a hand slapped around my mouth, and I began to scream, but it was muffled. Someone tied a gag around it, and I tried to open my eyes to see who it was, but it was so dark, I could only make out an outline of the person. They scooped me up, and headed to the window. But how were they going to get me out? There wasn't a way. I kicked and fought and clawed until I realized that I was going out of the window. My eyes widened, and my captor had paused for a moment. Oh God, why couldn't the moon be out right now? Suddenly, the arms that were holding me dropped, and I plunged down, screaming as loud as I could.   
  
Chapter 4  
  
I slowly drifted to consciousness. Soft beeping noises, and the occasional intercom call for one of the doctors. My eyelids slowly fluttered open, and I looked around. The bright lights affected my eyes, and I groaned.   
  
"May?" A soft voice asked. Shuffling footsteps.   
  
"The lights," I croaked. More footsteps and the lights dimmed. I opened my eyes wider.   
  
"Mommy?" She glided back over to the bed.   
  
"Oh, May, I was so worried, we thought we were going to lose you." Tears welled in her eyes.   
  
"What's wrong with me Mommy?" The look in her eyes made me feel as if something was terribly wrong.   
  
"I'll have the doctor explain it to you." She scurried out of the room, and I slowly sat up.   
  
"May," he said. It was Dr. Philip Cord, who had treated me the last time I was here. But the last time was a nightmare, he had tried to inject me with a sedative, but I had luckily gotten away.   
  
He stood there in the doorway, his features chiseled in the darkness.   
  
"Hello May. It's good to see that you are up." He walked into the room and stood in the doorway. "Mind if I turn on the lights?" Instead of waiting for my reply, he snapped them on, and I shrieked.   
  
"What's wrong with me?" I asked him, shielding my eyes. He sat at the foot of the bed and glanced at the charts. He nodded, smiled, and looked at me.   
  
"Well, May, the experience that you just went through, was called an emotional breakdown. You've been on a roller coaster of emotions, and that caused your physical health to decrease. Also, I noticed that you've lost a lot of weight since the last time you were here." I sighed.  
  
"What do you suggest, Doctor?" Mommy asked thoughtfully, taking her seat beside my bed.   
  
"I suggest that we should keep her here for a while, analyze her, see if she is stable enough, and what I advise is that she stays away from what is causing the emotional breakdown." She nodded.   
  
"For now, I'm just going to have her rest. We'll conduct a few test, but other than that, she should be fine." Mommy nodded again.   
  
"Where's Daddy?" I asked.   
  
"He had to go back to work honey. He said if anything happen that we were to call him." I sighed.   
  
"Mrs. Isaacson, if you don't mine, I need to conduct some tests." She nodded vigorously and left the room. He glanced at me and smiled.   
  
"I'll need you to sit up for a minute." I shifted uneasily in the bed and sat up. He removed the stethoscope and shot his hand up my hospital gown.   
  
"Hey!" I cried, jerking away. He laughed.   
  
"It's nothing out of the ordinary." He attempted again, and put the cold metal on my chest.   
  
"Breathe deeply," he commanded. I exhaled twice and he removed it and placed his palm on my back. "Breathe." I did so and he recorded it.   
  
"All righty," he said as he sighed. He took out a miniature flashlight and looked into my eyes. He looked down my throat and through my ear.   
  
"Is this really necessary?" I asked hesitantly.   
  
"Of course it is. I wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't." He retorted, and I sighed. "Now lay flat on your back." I scooted down and put my hands by my sides. His hands crawled up the sides of my nightgown again. I shot up.   
  
"Lie still," he growled, and I shot him an evil glare and lay down again. His hands poked my ribs, the sides of my breasts. With him doing this, I began to squirm.   
  
"The faster you stay still is when this will all be over with," he snapped, and I grunted. He removed his hands and I sat up again, adjusting the gown. He walked over to the counter and picked up a small vial.   
  
"I need you to urine in this cup for me please." He thrust it at me, and I looked at it skeptically.   
  
"What's this for?"  
  
"May, do you have to question me?" he asked. I sighed, rolled my eyes, and went into the bathroom and did what he asked. I handed it back to him.   
  
"Good. I'll be back in about an hour or so," he said and left the room, turning out the lights for me. I crawled back into bed and pulled the covers over my head. What was this for? I shrugged, and took a quick nap. When I had woken up, Daddy was sitting next to my bed, staring at the floor.   
  
"Daddy?" I said, rubbing my eyes. He looked up and threw his arms around me.   
  
"Oh, May, thank God you're OK," he said. I patted his back.   
  
"I'm fine."  
  
"I was so worried about you. I waited for the longest time, but I had to go back to work; I couldn't take the day off. But I told your Mother to call me if you had waken up." Dr. Cord walked into the room, with Mommy.   
  
"Jim, can we talk to you?" Daddy through an apologetic glance at me, then went into the hallway, shutting the door, but it hadn't closed all the way, so I could hear all that they were saying.   
  
"I have the results of the test if you would like to see them," the doctor said softly.   
  
"Of course," Mommy said eagerly.   
  
"Test?" Daddy questioned. I heard the ripping of an envelope, and Mommy's sigh of relief.   
  
"Not pregnant." Alarms went off in my head. What! I flew from the bed and stood near the door.   
  
"It even shows that your daughter hasn't even had intercourse."   
  
"Amanda Diane!" Daddy snarled. I stepped out of the room.   
  
"You gave me a pregnancy test?" I demanded to know from Mommy. She turned pale.   
  
"May, you can see that we are having a discussion," Dr. Cord said softly, placing his hand on my shoulder. I brushed it away forcefully.  
  
"Answer me!" I yelled. Her cheeks were flooded with tears.   
  
"Oh, May, I had to, I just had to!" she wailed, throwing herself at my feet. I kicked her away. I looked at Daddy.   
  
"Honestly May. I just learned of this too," he said, looking down at Mommy.   
  
"You were spending too much time with Joey! I was beginning to wonder! You came home with this, this angelic, beautiful look on your face, like you had just had the best few moments of your life, and I was afraid to ask if you had. . . "  
  
Sex?" I blurted. She cringed and looked up at me.   
  
"Now May, we don't want to upset you since you're in your current state. . . " Dr. Cord advised. I glared at him.   
  
"You don't tell me what to do," I snapped. I looked at Mommy again. "I can't believe you did this."  
  
"I had to!" she hissed. I scoffed and clenched my hands.   
  
"Maybe it's best that we leave," Daddy suggested. I wanted him to stay, not Mommy. I wanted her out.   
  
"Take Mommy. You can stay."  
  
"I have to get back to work," he said regretfully. I sighed and shuffled back into my room. "I'll talk to you later," he called. "Get up Amanda." I heard Mommy's sobs as she walked down the hallway. Dr. Cord slipped into my room and shut the door behind.   
  
"No, no, get out now," I said, pointing to the door.   
  
"Now let's talk about this for a moment," he said.   
  
"No! Get out now!" I yelled.   
  
"Quite a temper on you," he muttered.   
  
"Now, or I'll call security." I looked over at the phone mounted on the wall. He sighed.   
  
"Can't we just all get along?" He snickered, and left the room. I crawled back into my bed and picked up a magazine that one of the nurses had left in the room. It was a fashion magazine. I flipped through the pages dully and looked through the window.   
  
It was beginning to get dark, and I had remembered that I had to stay overnight. I groaned and tossed the magazine on the floor angrily. The hospital was slowly closing down. Nurses were going home, some doctors too. Only the on call doctors remained. Things got quieter. The announcements over the intercom grew less and less, and the sirens had become quieter.   
  
I settled into my bed, tucking myself in and fluffing my pillows. I started to twist the sheets around my finger; I couldn't sleep. I had slept most of the day. I watched as people walked by, patients taking their nightly walks. Suddenly, a thought popped into my head. I had wondered if I was born here. My eyes widened. I could always check . . .   
  
I threw the covers off of me, and ran to the door, making sure that Dr. Cord wasn't there. He had advised me earlier in the day to stay in bed and get some rest, but that thought didn't matter anymore.   
  
I slowly opened the door, looking down both corridors to see if anyone was coming. Both clear. I stepped out quickly, and made my way down the hall, watching for anyone who might stop me. Where to look? There was a reception desk, but everyone swarmed around that. Still walking down the hall, I looked for any one of the doctor's offices. Luckily, I found Dr. Cord's office. He was gone, probably flirting with one of his patients or the nurses. I slipped into the office, and locked the door, pulling down the shade so that no one could see me.   
  
His desk was in the middle of the room, bookshelves lining the room with medical books, small statues, and such other things. I sat down at his desk and pulled out the keyboard, booting up his computer. I searched through all of his files, went through hundreds of birth certificates, until I found a search engine on the hospital system. I typed my name in, and waited for the files to show up.   
  
Three files show up. I clicked on the most recent one. It was dated today because of my breakdown. The second one was when I had checked in because of the event dealing with Ashley Bernstein.   
  
And the last file. My hand shook as I clicked it open. Before my eyes could look at the screen, someone was standing outside the door, talking.   
  
"Come on Andrea, why not?" It was Dr. Cord. A woman, who I'm guessing is to be Andrea, scoffed.   
  
"Please Philip, I have to work late tonight. I have to make sure that Isaacson girl hasn't left her room. I got strict orders from her mother saying that she wasn't allowed to leave her room." I crouched underneath the desk. Someone tried the doorknob, but they knew it was locked, and Dr. Cord pulled out his keys and started to unlock the door.   
  
"So? She's knows that she's not allowed to go anywhere," he pleaded. "Come on, just one night. Some dinner, wine, maybe a little dancing." He threw open the door. My heart thumped, and I frantically looked around the room for another hiding spot. There was a cedar chest, but I wasn't quick enough to hide. I curled up into a ball as small as I could and closed my eyes.   
  
"Sure, and get me drunk so we can do the horizontal mambo, sure Phil," she muttered. She plopped down in one of the black leather chairs. I could see through the tiny crack under the desk. He plodded over to his desk, and I kept my eyes shut tight. He pulled back his chair and sat down, his legs barely grazing my body. I tired to scoot back further.   
  
"Please Andrea, you know I'm not that kind of man." He placed his elbows up on his desk, and there was an awkward pause.   
  
"What?" Andrea asked curiously, and stood up.   
  
"Someone's been surfing on my computer." My heart raced.   
  
"Why would someone do that?" Andrea questioned. My heart raced.  
  
"May Isaacson." He muttered, and I began to hyperventilate.  
  
"She was looking on your computer?"   
  
"No," he said. I exhaled with relief. "They typed in her name. Might have been that psycho mother of hers. You know, she's really adopted."  
  
"Maybe she was looking for her birth records or something, trying to send her away."  
  
"No, why would she send a pretty girl away?" He muttered. A few clicks on the mouse, and he shut down the computer. No. . . "I'd like to get a piece of her," he added. She exhaled.   
  
"This is exactly why I'm not going out with you," she hissed, and walked to the door, but he leaped up and chased after her.   
  
"Come on Andrea. Let me show you a good time." A long silence, and then I heard their lips smacking. She sighed, and then giggled.   
  
"OK, fine. Let me get my stuff, and check up on my patient, and then we can go," she said softly.   
  
"Great." He kissed her again, and she gasped.   
  
"Philip Cord," she scolded, and he chuckled and hurried out of his office, turning out the lights and locking the door, Andrea following him. Once they had been gone for a minute or two, I crawled out of my hiding spot, looking at the computer. My heart ached; I wanted to get back on to see the last file under my name, but Andrea was going to check up on me soon. I sighed, told myself that I would look another time, and bolted out of the office, and back into my room.  
  
I scurried into my bed as fast as I could, but the door was suddenly thrown open, and I dove under the covers.   
  
"Are you awake?" she asked, her heels clicking on the laminated tile. I stayed still.   
  
"Is she asleep?" Dr. Cord asked.   
  
"Uhh. . ." she threw back the covers, and I shut my eyes, pretending to look asleep. "She sleeps in the most awkward position, I swear." One of my legs was hanging off of the bed, my hair spilled around me, my arm thrown across my body. I slowly opened my eyes just to see a little bit. He walked over to my bed, and smiled.   
  
"It's cute," he said softly. He brushed a piece of hair off of my face. "Poor kid, she's been through a lot. When we first got her in here, she was having seizures. She was already unconscious when they got her here."  
  
"Dear lord," Andrea muttered.   
  
"We thought that she would go into a comatose state, but a few ours later she pulled out of it. Strong kid." He touched my cheek, and I wanted to smack his hand away, but I turned over and mumbled some words that didn't make any sense.   
  
"Let's get out of here," Dr. Cord said, and they walked out of my room, slamming the door behind them. I sat up. They were standing outside of my room, kissing. I couldn't get a good glance at Andrea, but I reminded myself that I would see her tomorrow when she comes to check on me. I sighed. My heart was racing fast, and I didn't want to go into any seizures. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths, and rearranged my position, and fell asleep.   
  
In the morning I was woken up by sirens going off from an ambulance. What a lovely way to wake up, I thought. I sighed and sat up, outstretching my arms over my head. The sunshine was bright, it was spilling into the room, just then, the door open, and my nurse, Andrea entered.   
  
"Oh, you're awake," she said. I took a good look at her. She had light brown hair that was down to her mid back, and it was curled at the ends. She looked about 23. Her eyes were light brown, and the makeup that she wore was very light but noticeable. She was wearing a white nurses outfit, which was a bit small on her, but hugged her curves. She had a hefty bosom, which led her to unbutton the first two buttons of her uniform. It was also a little bit short on her. She had tan, curvy legs, and black dress shoes on with her toenails painted red.  
  
"How are you feeling?" she asked as she freshened the flowers up a little bit and closed the bathroom door.   
  
"OK," I said softly. When she had come over to fluff my pillows, I noticed that she had attempted to cover up a hickey that Dr. Cord had given her with makeup. He had a few on her chest area also. When she had looked up, I saw that she had a glint in her eyes, like she was happy or something.   
  
"Is there anything you need?" she asked politely. I shook my head. "Breakfast will be coming soon." She went out into the hallway and brought in a cart full of orange juice. I took a cup and sipped it.   
  
"Wonderful." She smiled and started to walk out of the room. I noticed that she emphatically shook her hips when she walked. To me, she seemed like a nice girl. I sipped my juice and looked at my feet. The door flew open, and Dr. Cord stepped in. His grin was pasted on his lips; it looked like he had the best night of his life.   
  
"Good morning May," he said. He glanced at my charts.  
  
"You're looking extremely chipper this morning," I muttered. He flashed a toothy smile at me.   
  
"I'm just . . . happy," he said. I bit my lip to prevent myself from saying anything.   
  
"Well, well, it seems that your doing just fine," he bragged. "My patients always turn out for the better. Has Andrea come to check on you." I nodded. His smile broadened.   
  
"Good. Well, I'll be here if you need me." He spun around and marched out of the room just as quickly as he had entered. I giggled and looked out the window for a moment. It was a beautiful day, much to beautiful for me to be stuck in this room all day long. I lay in my bed, knowing that there wouldn't be anything on except for soap operas anyway. I wanted to go and snoop through Dr. Cord's files again, but the chance was too risky in the morning.   
  
I rested through most of the morning, Andrea allowing me to go down to the cafeteria for lunch. But I didn't have much of an appetite this morning. All I wanted to do was go home and talk to Joey. When I had finished what I could eat of my lunch, I walked around, looking for a phone. I kept my eyes open for Andrea, wondering if I was allowed to use the phone. Finally, in the cafeteria, I found a phone mounted on the wall. I eagerly picked up the phone and started dialing his number, praying to God that he was there.   
  
"Hello?" He had asked, and the phone suddenly went dead. There was Andrea.   
  
"What did you do that for?" I cried. She snatched the phone from me and slammed it down.   
  
"Didn't I tell you that you could only eat lunch and to head straight back to your room?" She said harshly.  
  
"No, you didn't," I retorted. She slammed the phone down.   
  
"I was given strict orders that you were not allowed to even leave your room. I was being nice, but I guess you can't follow the rules. Back to your room. Your father is here anyway." She pointed to the hallway, and I reluctantly marched back to the room. Andrea was walking next to me, and on the way, we walked past Dr. Cord. Andrea had a sharp look on her face from scolding me.   
  
"Don't be too harsh on her, pet," he whispered and grabbed her bottom. She scolded him softly, and continued to walk.  
  
Daddy was waiting for me in my room. He brought me clothes to change into.   
  
"May," he said and stood up. I smiled. "How are you feeling. Here, I brought you clothes." He handed them to me, and smiled. "Your release forms are all signed. Go ahead and change while I go talk to your doctor." I nodded and went into the bathroom to change. He had even brought me my makeup and a brush. I smiled and got ready. When I came out, Dr. Cord and Daddy were talking. His eyes lowered to my feet, then came back up to my face.   
  
"You look much better," he said, licking his lips. I shuddered. "You're all ready to go. I hope you get better. Get loads of rest, and I'll be seeing you in 2 weeks to make sure you are better." He walked over to me and hugged me, just a little too tight. I half-smiled. I walked over to Daddy and stayed close to him.   
  
"Let's go," he said softly and headed to the door. I nodded and headed out the door.   
  
We walked silently to the car. Daddy's head down, his feet shuffling.   
  
"Is there something wrong, Daddy?" I asked. He looked up.   
  
"Well, I'm kind of disappointed in your Mother," He said. I chewed on my lower lip. "I can't believe she pulled a pregnancy test out of the hat." I placed my hand on his shoulder.   
  
"Well, I guess, I can kinda understand," I said softly. He smiled warmly.   
  
"Let's get you home." I got into the car, and we headed for home.   
  
Mommy was anxiously waiting for me in the living room. She jumped up and ran over to me. I let her hug me, then I pulled away.  
  
"Let's just go home," I muttered, and crawled into the car. Mommy glanced at Daddy, and he shrugged and got into the drivers seat. Mommy got into the passengers seat, and soon, we were on our way home.  
  
Once we had arrived, I asked if I had received any phone calls while I was away.   
  
"Nope," Mommy said quickly and went into the kitchen. I shrugged and sighed.   
  
"Honey, why don't you go up to your room and sleep? I'm sure those hospital beds are uncomfortable," Daddy suggested, and I nodded and kissed him goodnight. He smiled. Mommy looked expectant.   
  
"Goodnight Mommy," I said to her and headed up the stairs. She sighed and her head lowered. Daddy went to pat her shoulder.   
  
For the first time in a few days, I settled into my bed, curling up into a ball and putting the covers over my head and inhaling the scent of my shampoo that had lingered on my pillow. Welcome home, I thought. No quicker had I gotten into my bed, I had gone to sleep.   
  
In the middle of the night, I woke up to hear my window being opened. I instantly thought it was Mommy, thinking that it was too stuffy in the room, so I didn't mind. I heard something fall to the floor, but I ignored that also. My covers were pulled back, and then a pause. Then I was beginning to wonder. Suddenly, a hand slapped around my mouth, and I began to scream, but it was muffled. Someone tied a gag around it, and I tried to open my eyes to see who it was, but it was so dark, I could only make out an outline of the person. They scooped me up, and headed to the window. But how were they going to get me out? There wasn't a way. I kicked and fought and clawed until I realized that I was going out of the window. My eyes widened, and my captor had paused for a moment. Oh God, why couldn't the moon be out right now? Suddenly, the arms that were holding me dropped, and I plunged down, screaming as loud as I could. 


	6. Chapter Five

Chapter 5  
  
I thought I was going to pass out from the rush of the fall, but someone had caught me. There were TWO people? I tried to fight with this one, but I was tossed into the back of an SUV and my second captor climbed in next to me, pinning me down in the seat. I tried to kick, but he had pinned down my legs. The first captor had climbed into the drivers seat, and slowly started the car and sped away. The driver turned around, and nodded to the guy pinning me down, and he took of the gag. I sucked some air in.   
  
"Who the hell are you!" I hissed. The driver sighed, and pulled off to the side, and flipped the light on.  
  
"Joey!" I shrieked.   
  
"Yes, it's me. Now lay down, I'll explain in a second," he snapped, and he sped off again and down the street, making some sharp turns. He halted, and the boy next to me got out of the car and said good-bye.   
  
"Thanks Brian," he called, and he looked at me.   
  
"What? OK, I need some explanations here," I said. He sighed and reached out to touch my face.   
  
"May," he started, but I smacked his hand away.   
  
"What do you think, you're doing?" I flamed.   
  
"I only just found out that you were in the hospital yesterday. I tried calling, and calling you, but your Mother told me that you didn't want to see me. So I didn't believe that, so I went over to your house, and she told me that I wasn't allowed to be hanging around with you anymore. Somehow, I had found out that you were being released, and I concocted a way to get you away from your family. I had to see you May."  
  
"Wait," I said, shaking my head. "So you're KIDNAPPING me? Where are you taking me?" I cried.   
  
"I'm taking you away. Far away. We need to be together."  
  
"Uhh, did you ever factor that my parents are going to call the police!" I yelled.   
  
"Of course," he said arrogantly. I growled.   
  
"You're a bastard Joey, I hate you. Take me-" He grabbed my face and kissed me. I groaned. The feeling had been hate had suddenly turned into love. How could I hate him? He was doing exactly what I wanted him to do. He was taking me away and I was finally going to be with him forever. He pulled away and looked into my eyes.   
  
"I missed you when I was in the hospital," I whispered, and his smile beamed in the darkness.   
  
"Come up into the front seat," he said, and I crawled in, and he sped off.   
  
"So where are we going?" I asked as I settled into the seat.   
  
"We're going out of Colorado Springs. We'll rent a motel somewhere, and we'll live there until we can get an apartment of something."  
  
"Joey! We can't just run of and live in motels! We have school, we have family, we have our own lives. We can't just get up and run!" He looked at me.   
  
"May, did you once say that you would do anything with me? Didn't you say that you trusted me?" I looked at him, and reluctantly nodded.   
  
"Then trust me now. Keep your word." He faced the road, and we started to get into the downtown area.   
  
The nightlife was interesting. People walking down the street, some just coming home from work, some about to go to work. Girls, hardly dressed at all, would parade down the street, offering themselves to anyone who was willing. The men walked around in loose clothing, trying to pick up chicks, or selling drugs in the dark alleyways. Music floated out of the nightclubs and onto the streets, bright lights and signs came to life.  
  
"What were you in the hospital for anyway?" He asked. I looked away.   
  
"Shortly after I had talked to you, my parents had wanted to talk to me. I went downstairs and they told me that I wasn't allowed to hang around you anymore. And then from there, it was like I was having a heart attack. I was shivering, I was hot and cold at the same time, I was dizzy. I was rushed to the hospital, and I passed out from there. I found out that I had an emotional breakdown. I needed rest, and I stayed in the hospital for another day. My doctor and nurse were having an affair. Late last night, I tried to look up who my real parents were, and I was just about to, but the doctor got into his office, and I had to hide, but luckily he went away, and I couldn't find out who my real parents were, so I had went into my room and, I guess I'm here." I didn't want to mention that my mother had pulled as surprise pregnancy test. He arched his eyebrows and stopped at the light.   
  
"I guess you've been through a lot on account of me," he said softly. I grabbed his hand.   
  
"I'm willing to run away with you, aren't I?" I protested softly. He smiled and squeezed my hand. I looked at the clock, It was almost eleven. I yawned and outstretched my hands over my head.   
  
"Tired?" he asked, and I nodded.   
  
"Why don't you curl up in the back seat. I've got some blankets in the back. I waited until we had stopped before crawling into the back. I pulled the blankets out of the back and stuffed one behind my head, another I lay on top of me, and sighed.   
  
"Goodnight," I said softly, and my eyes fluttered closed. He looked into the rear view mirror.   
  
"Goodnight," he said, and averted his eyes back to the road. I clutched the blankets close to me, and slowly drifted back to sleep.   
  
I had a strange dream that night. I dreamt that I had seen my parents reaction to my disappearance.   
  
"Jim! Jim come quick!" Mommy shouted from my bedroom. She was staring at my empty bed, and my open bedroom window. Daddy scampered up the stairs.   
  
"What's going on?" He realized that my bed was empty. "Where is she?"  
  
"I don't know! I don't know!" Mommy wailed. Daddy searched the room briskly.   
  
"No note," he muttered. Mommy's knees began to weaken, and Daddy supported her.   
  
"She ran away! She ran away, not taking anything! She's gone to see her real parents!" she cried. Daddy's heart was crushed. Mommy was sobbing by now.   
  
I woke up at that moment. I was in an actual bed, in a hotel. Joey was beside me. I flew out of the bed and brushed my hair out of my face. Had anything happened? I shivered and sat down in one of the chairs and wrapped the blanket that I had with me around me. Joey woke up later.   
  
"Oh, Good morning," he said, sitting up and scratching his head. "Sorry about the sleeping arrangements. I could only afford one room with one bed," he explained.   
  
"But nothing happened?" I gulped. He nodded.   
  
"Nothing happened." I sighed and hugged my knees. "What's wrong?" he walked over to me.  
  
"Just a dream," I muttered and looked at him. "How about we got on the road?" He smiled and walked back over to the bed and started to make it. I stood up out of the chair and went into the bathroom. The dream lingered in my brain, and I had to get rid of it.   
  
"Joey, I don't have any clothes to change into," I called and splashed some water in my face.   
  
"Here," he said, and tossed me a duffel bag full of my clothes.   
  
"How did you get this?" I asked as I rooted through it to find some clothes.   
  
"Before I got back into the car, I grabbed some clothes, underwear, makeup." I blushed when he mentioned that he had packed my underwear.   
  
"Thanks," I said softly, and turned to the bathtub to turn on the shower. It felt good to cleanse myself, rid myself of what had occurred recently. I kept the bathroom door locked as I was getting ready.  
  
"Come on May! Open up the door!" He shouted as he banged on it with his fist.   
  
"Hold on a minute!" I yelled back, then opened the door once I was finished.   
  
"You take forever," he said as he went into the bathroom.   
  
"So?" I put my makeup back into my bag and put my hair into a ponytail and waited for him to finished.   
  
"Ready to go?" He asked as he walked back into the room. I nodded and slung the duffel bag over my shoulder.  
  
"OK, let's get out of here." He grabbed his things, and we headed downstairs.   
  
At the counter, two men dressed in black suits were standing at the counter, talking to one of the men. I stopped in my tracks, and looked at Joey.   
  
"I think they are looking for us," I whispered to him.   
  
"They involved the FBI?" he whispered and sighed. "Um, OK. How about we just like. . ."  
  
"Come on Joey! They are going to notice us eventually," I hissed.   
  
"OK!" He grabbed my wrist and pulled me upstairs again. He took my duffel bag off of my shoulder and threw it on the ground. He threw it open and took out one of my T-shirts.   
  
"What?" I asked. He grabbed my head and wrapped it around my head, tucking in my hair. "How is this going to work?" He grabbed my makeup, and rubbed brown eye shadow on my skin.   
  
"OK, now if anyone tries to talk to you, speak in an Arabian accent. It'll work, trust me."  
  
"What about checking out?" I asked.   
  
"Don't worry about that. Go ahead." I sighed, grabbed my duffel bag, and started to walk forward. The officers looked at me, and I gulped and smiled. They looked at each other, nodded, and walked toward me. My heart began to pound.   
  
"Hello, Miss," he said. "Can we speak to you for a minute?" I nodded, and one of the officers pulled out a photo of me.   
  
"Have you seen this girl?" The second officer asked. I shook my head.   
  
"Yes, I saw her leave with a man, it looked like she was pretty frightened," I said in the best accent I could. They both looked anxious.   
  
"Did you see where they were going? Who she was with?" The first officer asked. I shook my head.   
  
"I do not know. I think that he might have taken her to get something to eat, or taken her away, I do not know. Why? Is something bad going to happen to her?" The second officer sighed.   
  
"Well, she was abducted in the middle of the night last night. Her parents are very scared."  
  
"I am very sorry that I could not help you in your search." They smiled and headed out of the hotel door. I walked back upstairs and unwrapped the turban and wiped off the makeup.   
  
"That was good," he said. I was surprised that he wasn't laughing. I sighed and closed my eyes.   
  
"Let's just get out of here, and check out," I said, and grabbed my things and hurried out the door so the man at the counter couldn't see me. Joey signed out and got into the car.   
  
"Did he recognize you?" I asked quickly.   
  
"No, let's get out of here," he said, and started the car and sped off. We could see the FBI agents speed past us and over to the nearby fast food venders. I chewed on my lip.   
  
During our ride, we were both silent. I think it was the agents that scared us. They were out looking. And I wasn't even gone for 24 hours. My parents probably bribed them, of course.   
  
At that moment, I was beginning to feel that I should go back home. If I have to disguise myself all the time, what was the point? Me and Joey couldn't live like this, it would be an unhappy life. But I bit my lip and swallowed my thoughts.   
  
"Something wrong?" Joey asked as we pulled into a fast food restaurant. I shook my head. "You're going to have to hide in the back-seat." I sighed and crawled back there and hid under the seat. Joey ordered some burgers, and the girl at the window questioned why he was buying so much.   
  
"Have to buy for the family," he lied. He collected the food and sped off, giving me the signal that I could sit up.  
  
"Are we going to have to keep doing this?" I asked. He scowled at me as I crawled into the front seat.  
  
"Of course. May, you're on the missing persons list. People are going to have your picture posted up everywhere."  
  
"But what about you Joey?" I snapped. "You're a missing person too."  
  
"So? My parents won't care. They probably won't even notice."  
  
"Oh yes they will!" I shrilled. He glared at me.   
  
"There are other children on the list too, but you don't see their pictures posted up everywhere."  
  
"But your parents May, they're doing all they can to find you. They won't stop until the find you." I scoffed and folded my arms across my chest.   
  
"Don't pout May. Things will only will get better from here," he promised. I rolled my eyes.   
  
"Sure Joey," I said, and took a hamburger from the bag and started to stuff it in my mouth. Joey laughed, and I gave him a dirty look, and he continued to drive.   
  
"Are we there yet?" I asked, with an impish smile.   
  
"Don't do that May. We're not there yet." I finished eating and lay in the back-seat.   
  
"I'm bored."  
  
"Don't you think that I'm bored?" He snapped. I sighed and stuffed a pillow under my head.   
  
"Don't be mad at me May." Joey said. I looked out the window and watched as the trees passed my.   
  
My heart ached. It was telling me that I was to go home, back home where the only family I had, loved me. I could still be in the adoption center, waiting for someone to take me as their child. But then, if that had happened, I wouldn't have met Joey. But for some reason, I was kind of regretting meeting him at all. He had gotten me into a lot of trouble, like with his girlfriend, and now with my parents. And my heart was in trouble. I was only thinking of Joey. Only Joey. Not my parents, not myself, but just Joey. I was that head over heels in love with him.   
  
But was it worth it? Would it really be worth it in the end? We could enroll in school, get married, have children, and still, Joey and I would still be on the missing persons list. Deep down inside, we would still be on that list. And look how many people we would be hurting. Our parents, loved ones, friends. It would just more people in the end.   
  
"Joey," I whimpered. "Can you stop up here?" He looked at me.   
  
"What's up?"  
  
"I need to make a phone call."  
  
"Who are you going to call? You can't call your parents."  
  
"Just, stop in the nearest rest stop," I said, fighting back tears. He sighed, and drove over at the rest stop. I borrowed fifty cents for the pay phone, and ran over, doubting whether I should call. But I put the money in the slot, and dialed Emilia's number.   
  
The phone rang and rang, and I didn't think that she would answer, but she finally did.   
  
"Hello?" she asked, breathless.   
  
"Emilia, it's me. May." I heard her gasp.   
  
"May! May Isaacson! Where are you! You're parents are worried to death."  
  
"I- I can't tell you where I am," I stuttered.   
  
"Did someone kidnap you? Who is it? Was it Ashley Bernstein?"  
  
"No, no. I just wanted to call and let you know that I'm OK."  
  
"Come home May. We all miss you."  
  
"No, no, I can't," I said. "I have to go," I said softly.   
  
"May, please, come home. Did you run away, did someone take you?"  
  
"Good-bye Emilia," I said, and slammed the phone down, leaning against it. Joey ran over to me.   
  
"Why did you call her?" He hissed.   
  
"Please, Joey, I had to call her. I had to let her know that I was OK."  
  
"Now she's on to us. Does she have caller ID?" I nodded.   
  
"She's going to call the police on us, and your parents." I started to cry.   
  
"I'm sorry Joey," I sobbed. He put his arm around my shoulder and embraced me.   
  
"I'm sorry May. I got scared. I don't want anyone to take you away from me." I cried on his shoulder, and he wiped away my tears.   
  
"Let's get you into the car, OK?" I nodded and walked over to the car with him, and he sped away.  
  
"Joey, I think I want to go home," I announced. He kept his eyes on the road, and didn't answer me.   
  
"Did you hear me Joey? I said I think I want to go home." He still didn't answer me. I leaned my head against the window, and I slowly drifted to sleep.   
  
I had another dream. I was running through a dark hallway. I kept looking behind me, and there was the past that I had left behind. The family, the friends. I looked forward, and standing in the spotlight, were the two FBI agents.   
  
"You left behind a good life," the first agent said.  
  
"Don't do this to me." I cried.   
  
"You left for this May." An older version of me popped into the room, carrying a baby, and two children running around me, teasing each other.   
  
"Jamie, Brandon, please stop," I cried. My face was dirty, and the clothes I was wearing were dingy and spotted with stains. The baby started to cry, and I tried to calm it, but it screaming got louder. Joey walked through an invisible door.   
  
"May! I home!" He bellowed, and came over to kiss my cheek. He looked at the stack of bills on the counter, and frowned.   
  
"I thought we paid this."  
  
"We didn't have enough money. The phone was turned off," I said. He threw it away and opened another bill.   
  
"May! I thought we had paid these all!"  
  
"Those were all of last month!" I yelled. The baby started screaming louder, and I finally gave her a bottle. Jamie and Brandon had stopped teasing each other and were wrestling on the couch.  
  
"Stop! I screamed, and everything in the house stopped moving. Even the baby. "I've had enough of this! I want out!" The image faded away. The agents came back.   
  
"Do you want to live your life that that?" The second agent asked.   
  
"Stop. That's not the life that I'm going to live," I protested. They both laughed.   
  
"Is this the life you want?" They faded away, and an image of me walking through the door of a massive house appeared.   
  
"Joey!" I called. He came out of his office and smiled.   
  
"Darling, you're home," he said, embracing me and kissing me.  
  
"Yes, Life at the office is pretty strenuous, but I come home to a wonderful husband and three lovely children." Jamie was sitting at the top of the stairs.   
  
"Mother's home!" she cried, and ran down stairs. I swept her into my arms, and Brandon came running down.   
  
"Ah, my darlings," I said, kissing them. "Have you been good children today?"  
  
"Yes, Momma. I can tell that Baby Jane has been missing you very much today. You should go see her." I smiled and went upstairs to the nursery, finding a baby in the crib.   
  
"Baby Jane," I said softly, picking her up and rocking her in my arms. Joey stood behind me, and Jamie and Brandon stood by my side, watching. The scene faded away, and the two agents had come back.   
  
"Is that what you want?" They said in perfect unison. I didn't answer.  
  
"I'm not going to regret this," I said defiantly. They looked at each other.   
  
"Are you?"  
  
I jolted awake. It was nighttime now, and cars whizzed by. Joey looked at me.   
  
"You OK?" He asked. I exhaled and nodded. "You're sweating." I wiped my forehead and rolled down the window a little bit.   
  
"How far have we gotten? I asked, rubbing my eyes.   
  
"We're almost outside of Colorado Springs. We're getting there," he said. I looked at the speed limit, and looked at the speedometer. He was over the speed limit.   
  
"Joey, you're over the speed limit," I informed, and he grunted.   
  
"We're OK, besides, I'm going to get something to eat."  
  
"You know, you are going to run out of money. Then what?" I asked. He narrowed his eyes and parked at a KFC.   
  
"Come in with me. We're far enough so that no one would recognize you," he suggested. I sighed and walked into the restaurant.  
  
It wasn't too busy, only about 4 people were ordering. The boy at the counter looked at us, and turned to the manager. My heart started to thump.   
  
"What's going on?" I whispered to Joey as he looked at the menu.   
  
"It's nothing," he assured me, and I sighed and decided to order. The manager was the one who took our order.   
  
"How may I help you?" He kept his eyes locked on me.   
  
"Um, can I get a number 1?" I asked, my voice quivering.   
  
"And I'll have the number 3." He nodded, looked at me once more, and went to tell the cooks our order. I looked at Joey.   
  
"I think he knows that it's me," I said. He rolled his eyes.   
  
"I don't think that. Now stop worrying," he commanded, and I waited nervously for our order to be called. Finally, it was finished, and we eagerly grabbed our food. Now there was no one here but us. I smiled, grabbed our order, and hurried out to the car.   
  
"Slow down May," Joey said. I got into the car.   
  
"Let's go," I said, and he reluctantly started the car, and we ate as we drove.   
  
Joey was over the speed limit, again. I warned him about it, and he snapped at me.   
  
"Just relax." I closed my eyes, and suddenly red and blue lights flashed.   
  
"Oh God!" I cried, and Joey looked panicked.   
  
"Okay, it's just a routine checkup," he reassured himself, and pulled over to the side of the highway. I started to shake as the officer pulled over behind us and walked to the drivers side. Joey rolled his window down. "Hello officer."  
  
"Hello, can I see your license and registration please?" He asked. Joey leaned over and opened up the glove box to get out the registration and pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and pulled out his license. The officer went back to check it. Joey looked at me.   
  
"See? I told you, just a routine checkup," he said, and the officer came back quickly.   
  
"Here you go sonny." He looked at me. "What's your name?"  
  
"M- May," I stuttered. His eyebrows rose.  
  
"All right boys," he said into his walkie-talkie, and about 5 officers came out of cop cars that had suddenly arrived, cocking their guns.   
  
"Out of the car kids," he commanded, and I scrambled out and so did Joey. They told us to hold up our hands, and I did so. The Marshall came running towards me. He looked at me, and over at the officer.  
  
"Well done Bob," he said. The Marshall looked at me. "This is our girl. Get her in the car." Bob dragged me over to his car, along with Joey. We crawled in back and he slammed the door shut. I looked at Joey.   
  
"I'm sorry Joey," I said softly.   
  
"It wasn't your fault," he replied. I rested against the seat, and waited until I could finally go home again. 


	7. Chapter Six

Chapter 6  
  
We drove right back to where we started, back in Colorado Springs. They took us down to the downtown police station, and had us ushered in the back way, because some of the newspaper reporters were stalking the entrance. We walked straight into the Marshall's office.   
  
"Take a seat," he said. Joey and I both plopped into two chairs that sat in front of his desk.   
  
"Okay kids, let's start talking," The Marshall said, sitting behind his desk and folding his hands behind his head. Joey and I both looked at each other. The Marshall smiled.   
  
"May, why don't we start with you." I gulped. "Tell me what has happened in the last 24 hours."  
  
"Well, I- I, well. . . " I stuttered. He sighed.   
  
"Take it slow."  
  
"I- I ran away," I blurted. Joey looked at me, his eyes wide. I looked back at the Marshall. "Things, things weren't going my way. I mean, I just gotten home from the hospital, my mother didn't trust me and she pulled a pregnancy test on me. My parents told me that I couldn't hang out with Joey anymore." Lies upon lies, upon lies. I was making it up as I went. But it was working.  
  
"I got home that night and went straight up to my room. My parents thought that I was sleeping. Instead, I was packing all that I could fit into a duffel bag. When I was finished, Joey arrived. I didn't have time to write a note. I threw my stuff down and crawled out my window, and I got into his car. And we sped off. This was like, 11:00." He nodded and turned to Joey.   
  
"Is this true?" He nodded vigorously. He turned back to me.   
  
"So you weren't kidnapped? Abducted? This was all your idea?" I nodded.   
  
"I'm sorry, I just. . . I just had to get out." He turned to Joey.   
  
"You sure did pack a lot of clothes," he noticed.   
  
"I didn't think that we would get caught," he said, a little irritated. The Marshall sighed and picked up the phone.   
  
"May, what is your home phone number?"  
  
"You're calling my parents?" I cried. He looked at me doubtfully. I sighed and rattled off the number.   
  
"You should be grateful that your parents care this much for you. In some cases, parents don't want their children to come back." I looked at Joey.  
  
"Why did you lie?" He mouthed to me.   
  
"To save the both of us." The Marshall talked to my parents, and he hung up.   
  
"They're on their way. Joey, I have to call your parents too."  
  
"Marshall, you can't. I told them that I was going to our ranch home for a while." The Marshall raised his eyebrows.   
  
"I have to call them. It's our policy." He sighed, and told him the number.   
  
"You kids can get your stuff." We both stood up and went out into the hallway where two officers led us to where our stuff was. Joey pounded the wall angrily.   
  
"Joey," I said softly. He turned to me, and I could see the fire in his eyes. The anger.   
  
"We weren't supposed to get caught," he complained.   
  
"I know, and I'm sorry," I whispered. He looked at me, and hugged me. I rested my head on his shoulder. Suddenly, my parents walked through the door, and my Mother's eyes widened. I pulled away, and she stormed over here.   
  
"I knew you had something to do with this!" She yelled.   
  
"Amanda," Daddy warned.   
  
"You kidnapped my baby girl!"  
  
"No, he didn't!" I protested. "I ran away! To get away from you!" It seemed to register, and she paused and drew back.   
  
"You ran away?" Daddy asked. I nodded.   
  
"Joey didn't take me, I asked him if he would drive me out of the city." The Marshall came out of his office.   
  
"Mr. and Mrs. Isaacson," he said. Daddy shook his hand.   
  
"Why don't you come into my office and talk," he suggested. Mommy looked at me before going with Daddy into the Marshall's office. I looked at Joey, and he hugged me again.   
  
"You'll be OK," he said, and I sighed. I had almost wished that they hadn't caught us. I would have rather been anywhere than here.   
  
Joey and I waited in the lobby for his parents to arrive. Two officers were standing by, making sure that we didn't bolt off again. Finally, my parents had arrived, and Mommy started to drag me out.   
  
"We're leaving, now," she said. I looked at Joey helplessly.   
  
"Mommy, stop, I can walk on my own," I said. Her grip became harder. "Joey. . ."  
  
"Mrs. Isaacson," Joey began, but she turned around.   
  
"I don't want you to ever, talk to my daughter again," she said.  
  
"Amanda," Daddy warned. Mommy started to drag me again.   
  
"Joey!" I screamed. He leaped up and reached out for me, and I grabbed his hand, but Mommy yanked me out of the building.   
  
Mommy threw me into the back-seat of car, and climbed into the drivers seat, and barely waited for Daddy to get into the car before driving off. She didn't say a word. I looked at Daddy, and he tried to talk to Mommy, but she didn't say a word. He gave up and closed his eyes after a while. We had gotten home, and Mommy dragged me into the house, throwing me down on the ground.   
  
"Mommy!"  
  
"Don't you, Mommy, me, little girl," she snapped.   
  
"Amanda! What the hell do you think you're doing!" Daddy bellowed. She spun toward Daddy.   
  
"Don't you tell me what to do! This is between me and May," she hissed, and turned back to me. "On your feet!" I scrambled onto my feet quickly.   
  
"How could you, how COULD you!" She folded her hands behind her back and paced around me.   
  
"I'm sorry Mommy," I sobbed, starting to cry.   
  
"You, you run away in the middle of the night, no note or anything, and you have Joey, take you away. Didn't you think about me or your father? We were crushed May! When I didn't see you in your bed that morning, I panicked. I thought you had been kidnapped and killed! Raped! Anything that you could possibly imagine! And then Emilia calls to tell me that you called her. Why didn't you call us! To let us know that you were OK?" Her dainty hand came across my face and slapped me hard across the cheek. I crashed to the ground.   
  
"Amanda!"  
  
"Stay out of it Jim!" she screeched. He stood there, helpless. I sat up.   
  
"I can't believe this, you, ran away, with a boy! What did he do to you!"  
  
"Nothing!" I screamed. "Nothing."  
  
"Well, now you messed things up for yourself. You are never, never, allowed to see Joey, again. I'm taking you out of summer school."  
  
"You can't do that!" I found some strength, and I sat up. "You can't separate us. Look at what he did for me! He pulled me out of a serious depression, he showed me a wonderful time. I love him! And there is nothing that can break the bond of love!" I slapped, and she screamed.   
  
"How dare you! How dare you!" She came at me again, swinging her fists. She managed to hit my eye, and it blinded me for a minute, but I kicked her and tugged on her hair. She screamed and pushed me away from her. I tripped her and put her on the ground and kicked her side once. She struck me with her high heel, and that sent me reeling to the other side of the room with a scrape on my head. She stood up, and Daddy restrained her.   
  
"Enough Amanda! Enough!" He bellowed. He took her upstairs, and I sat on the floor, sobbing. Daddy took me into his office and grabbed an ice pack.   
  
"How does it feel?" He asked. I pressed it to my eye.   
  
"It's OK," I said. He looked at me sympathetically.   
  
"I'm sorry that she did that. I should have stopped it."  
  
"It's my own fault Daddy, I messed things up. I was the one who ran away." I explained.   
  
"But still, she had no right to do that." I sighed and put a Band-Aid on my forehead. I looked at Daddy.  
  
"Daddy, do you think I should still talk to Joey? I mean, he has been good for me," I said cautiously. He sighed.   
  
"I don't want to be put in this position," he started, but I held up my hand.   
  
"I'm not putting you in any position," I said quickly. "I just want to know your opinion. He sighed again.   
  
"Honestly May. . . I really don't know. I'm stuck in the middle. He's a nice boy, but what happened recently, I don't know May."  
  
"He's a nice boy, Daddy, you're right, but I love him so much."  
  
"You love him?" I looked away guiltily.   
  
"I know I haven't known him for a long time, but. . . I dunno Daddy. It's like when you and Mommy fell in love," I suggested. He slightly smiled.   
  
"Let's get you into bed." We stood up and he escorted me up to my room. Mommy's room was silent.   
  
"Did Mommy go to sleep?" I asked.   
  
"Yes, I gave her some PM medicine and she went right to bed. I locked her in, so I'm going to have to sleep in the guest room until she calms down," he said sadly.   
  
"Goodnight." I kissed his cheek, and went into my room. I shut the door and turned on the light, and Joey was sitting on my bed.   
  
"Joey!" I cried, but he pressed his finger to his lips.   
  
"Hush," he said.   
  
"What are you doing here?"  
  
"What happened to your eye?" He gingerly touched it, and I winced.   
  
"It's a long story. How long have you been here?"  
  
"Only for a little while. I had to see you." He touched my cheek, and kissed me.   
  
"Do your parents know that you're gone?" He scoffed.   
  
"What do you think?" He asked. I smiled.   
  
"Now what happened to your eye?"  
  
"Mommy and I got into a fight. It was pretty bad." He embraced me.  
  
"I shouldn't have taken you away. I shouldn't have." I looked up and shook my head.   
  
"But look at all of the good things that it brought us. It brought us closer, we got to know each other more. . ." I protested. He smiled. I went to sit down on my bed, and he followed. I rested my head on his shoulder.   
  
"Now what?" I asked. He shrugged.   
  
"I don't know. What can we do?" He lifted my head, and kissed me.   
  
Every time that he kissed me, jolts went up my spine. It was a good feeling. I threw my arms around his neck, and he smiled.   
  
"I love you May Isaacson, and I don't care what anyone says." He kissed me again and slowly pushed me down.   
  
Was I willing to take the risk? Was I willing to give myself away to Joey? I did love him, but was I ready? I just turned sixteen; I'm still young, I thought. And I didn't know anything about sex; Mommy and Daddy didn't bother to teach it to me, but from what I can tell from what I heard from my friends, that it was a wonderful experience. Shivers ran up my spine. To do it, or not to?  
  
His kisses grew more passionate, and his hand was on my thigh. He slowly moved it up, and it seemed like I was wanting it to move faster. I looked up dreamily into his eyes. God, I loved him, and there was anything that I would do for him, I would do it, even if that means losing my virginity.   
  
His breath grew shorter, and he seemed to move faster. His hands went to the hem of my shirt and lifted it up, kissing my stomach. A small moan escaped my lips. His eyes brightened, and his fingers started to unbutton my jeans. Suddenly, a flashback of the dream that I had just before we had gotten caught. An older version of me, carrying around a baby and two other children running around my feet. I blinked, and I slowly pushed him away.   
  
"I know, I'm sorry," he said.   
  
"It wasn't your fault."  
  
"I know, but, you're tempting me May. Overtime I see you walk, I want to go up to you and hold you in my arms forever. You're beautiful, inside and out." His words made my heart flutter, and I smiled.   
  
"It's just, I don't want the consequences to happen," I said softly. He nodded.   
  
"I understand." I lay down, and he slipped his arm around my waist and lay down next to me.   
  
"We're going to fall asleep," I said.   
  
"I don't care. It's worth it," he whispered in my ear, and I turned off the light, and I curled up close next to him.  
  
"Goodnight," I whispered, and I slowly drifted off.   
  
In the morning, I thought I heard Mommy pounding on her bedroom door, and I slowly woke Joey.   
  
"Joey," I whispered, and he groaned. "Joey, come on, wake up." His eyes slowly opened, and he smiled, pulling me on top of him.   
  
"What a wonderful way to wake up," he said softly and brushed his lips against mine. I smiled.   
  
"You better go," I said. "My mother is getting up." He sat up and ran his fingers through his hair.   
  
"May! May!" Mommy called. I sighed and stood up.   
  
"I'll call you later, OK?" I kissed him good-bye and waited until he was out of the room to go out into the hallway.   
  
"What's going on Daddy?" I asked just as he was heading to the door.   
  
"It's nothing, she's just having some delusional thoughts," he explained. She pounded on the door.   
  
"Jim! Please open the door. They took her again!"  
  
"No, Amanda, she's here, don't worry," Daddy said.   
  
"What did you give her? Should she see a doctor?" I asked, looking at the door.   
  
"No, she's fine. It's just the effects of the medicine that I gave her. She'll be fine." He looked at his watch. "It's still early enough, you can get ready for summer school if you want." I nodded, and went to eagerly change my clothes and get ready.   
  
When we had pulled up to the school, everyone that had heard of my recent adventure had rushed up to the car.   
  
"May! May!" the all cried. I looked at Daddy.   
  
"I have to go. Bye," I said, and hurried out of the car.   
  
"May!" I heard a familiar voice call, and there was Emilia, running toward me.   
  
"Oh my God!" she cried, and she nearly could have pulled me to the ground as she hugged me.   
  
"Oh, you're OK," she sobbed. I smiled.   
  
"I'm fine."  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"Well," I began, and proceeded to tell her what had happened. Her eyes widened.   
  
"I can't believe you did that! You had me so worried!"  
  
"You can't be mad at me Emilia," I said. She smiled.   
  
"You're right. C'mon, let's get to class," she said, and looped her arm with mine, and we walked to class.   
  
"Mind if I escort these two lovely ladies to class?" Joey asked from behind me. I smiled and grabbed his hand.   
  
"You certainly may," I said, and we walked to class.  
  
"How's your Mother?" he whispered in my ear.   
  
"She's fine," I whispered back. We looked at each other for a moment, and started to laugh.   
  
Things started to get a little normal. Me and Joey were finally declared an item. Mommy didn't get any better and sadly, we had to institutionalize her. We visited her often, usually once or twice a week. She was still stuck at the point where she was just discovering that I was gone. She doesn't remember me much.   
  
"Jim, why isn't May coming back?" She would ask sadly. It made my eyes water to see her in such a state.   
  
"Mommy. . . " I touched her hair, and she spun around.   
  
"Who are you?" She asked. I looked at Daddy.   
  
"That's May," he whispered in her ear.   
  
"That's not May. May was taken, remember? Taken in the middle of the night." Daddy told her that we were leaving, and we walked out of the room.   
  
"Will she ever be back to normal?" I asked, wiping a tear away. He shrugged slowly.   
  
"I don't know." We walked out into the parking lot, and Joey was standing by his car, waiting.   
  
"What are you doing here?" I asked.   
  
"Well, I saw your car here, and you called me and told me that you were coming here, so I thought I would meet you." I looked at Daddy.   
  
"Go ahead," he said. I ran over to him and smiled.   
  
"Let's go over to my place, eh?" he suggested, placing his arm around my waist. I smiled and crawled into his new car.   
  
We drove over to the ranch house, where he carried me inside.   
  
"Remember this place?" he whispered in my ear, his lips brushing my cheek. I giggled. I hadn't felt this happy in a long time.   
  
"Maybe," I said, wrapping a lock of his hair around my finger. He smiled, and kissed me, walking over to the couch and dropping me. I snaked my arms around his neck, and he kissed me, slowly raising my shirt up. He stopped.   
  
"Are you ready?" He asked. I gulped, nodded, and brought his lips to mine. 


	8. EPILOGUE

Epilogue   
  
Me and Joey were sitting on the front porch of my house, drinking lemonade and watching the sun go down. Daddy was inside, doing paper work.   
  
"So what's next, May?" He asked, pulling me onto his lap. I sipped my lemonade. "We're going to be Juniors next year. What should we do? We've run away, we've been together through everything. Now what?" The mailman drove up to the mailbox, and stuffed the bills and adds inside. I stood up and went to go get it. I sifted through it quickly, then saw something with my name addressed on it.  
  
"What is it?" Joey asked. I walked back up on the porch and sat down   
  
"I don't know," I said and read the return address. April Sanders. I glanced at it curiously and tore it open.   
  
"Who's it from?" I ignored him and scanned the letter.   
  
Dear May:   
  
I know you're probably wondering who I am or how I got your address, but this is a letter that needs to be read. I am your sister. I know it might seem strange, but I am. I think you probably might know already, but if you didn't, it's the truth.   
  
Our mother had to abandon us, but I can understand why. She was thinking ahead. I was reading between the lines. But I'm kind of curious to know what happened. And I'm curious to meet you and my other two sisters.   
  
I sent everyone else a letter also. I've decided that I wanted to meet you, so I've designated a meeting spot, time and date. On June 21 at 12:00, we can meet at an Italian restaurant called Tony's place. Directions are on another piece of paper I sent.   
  
I hope you can come along. It would be great to meet everyone and talk about what has happened.   
  
Love,  
  
April Sanders.  
  
I looked up from the letter and blinked, then smiled.   
  
"What's next Joey?" I repeated. "Well, I have the answer to that. I'm going to see my sisters."  
  
The end.   
  
***Well, that be the ending of May! Go me! I'd like to thank the academy, ^^ and Jasmine, because she uploaded my stories and she's been a great help! 3 Also, I would like to thank the people that sent me comments. It's been interesting.   
  
My next stories are going to be June and July, Bell, Frostbite, and Lucky. I still have to finish Dark clouds because I've been a bad girl and haven't been writing in it! :/ Thanks again!  
  
Ashley 


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